The Communist Party of Kenya (CPK) is a

communist party A communist party is a political party that seeks to realize the socio-economic goals of communism. The term ''communist party'' was popularized by the title of ''The Manifesto of the Communist Party'' (1848) by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels. A ...

Kenya ) , national_anthem = "Ee Mungu Nguvu Yetu"() , image_map = , map_caption = , image_map2 = , capital = Nairobi , coordinates = , largest_city = Nairobi , ...

History

The party was established in 1992 as the Social Democratic Party (SDP) by Johnstone Makau.Robert M. Maxon, Thomas P. Ofcansky (2014) ''Historical Dictionary of Kenya'', Rowman & Littlefield, pp. 315–316 The party did not nominate a presidential candidate in the December 1992 general elections, and received only 177 votes in the

National Assembly In politics, a national assembly is either a unicameral legislature, the lower house of a bicameral legislature, or both houses of a bicameral legislature together. In the English language it generally means "an assembly composed of the repre ...

elections.

Charity Ngilu Charity Kaluki Ngilu (born 28 January 1952) is a Kenyan politician and the second governor elected for Kitui County. She unsuccessfully vied to be President of the Republic of Kenya in 1997. She served as Minister for Health from 2003 until 200 ...

joined the party before the 1997 elections, and was selected as the party's presidential candidate. She finished fifth in a field of 15 candidates with 7.9% of the vote. The party also won 15 seats in the National Assembly. Ngilu left the party after the elections, and in 2001 was succeeded as party chairman by

James Orengo James Aggrey Bob Orengo is a Kenyan lawyer, a well known human rights activist and politician who is the current governor for Siaya County. He is also one of the few Kenyan lawyers who have attained the professional grade of Senior counsel in t ...

. He stood as the party's presidential candidate in the 2002 elections, but received just 0.4% of the vote; the party also lost all 15 seats in the National Assembly. Its vote share was reduced to 0.4% in the 2007 general elections, in which it fielded 24 candidates. It also failed to win seats in the 2013 elections, receiving only 0.15% of the vote with seven candidates. The party adopted its current name and programme in 2019. The party garnered mild internet fame in February 2022 after one of its campaign videos went viral. Mwandawiro Mghanga was the party chairman until an internal split in 2022.

Electoral history

Presidential elections

National Assembly elections

Senate elections

References

1992 establishments in Kenya Communism in Kenya Communist parties in Africa International Coordination of Revolutionary Parties and Organizations Political parties established in 1992 Political parties in Kenya {{Kenya-party-stub