THE detention on “trumped-up” charges against Kenyan communist leader Booker Omele has been condemned here in Britain.

The vice-chair and organising secretary of the Communist Party of Kenya, Mr Omele was arrested by authorities on Saturday after he boarded a plane at the capital Nairobi’s Jomo Kenyatta International airport as he prepared to journey to China.

Mr Omele was questioned and had his travel documents seized before being released and charged with incitement to violence.

He said: “Although this criminal government has confiscated my travel documents … and released me … I still face charges of incitement to violence.

“It is not a crime to travel to China: [Kenyan] President [William] Ruto himself is in China only telling lies about Kenya. So to tell me I can’t travel to China and arrest me for it is unacceptable: we won’t dialogue with a killer, a murderer and a land-grabber.”

Communist Party of Britain international secretary Kevan Nelson condemned the arrest of Mr Omele “on trumped-up charges” as the latest in “a long line of repressive measures by the Kenyan government against its democratic opponents.”

He added that this was “a blatant attempt to block the CP of Kenya from combating the disinformation and lies of the discredited Ruto regime.”