Senator Samson Cherargei is urging the government to restrict South African opposition leader Julius Malema from entering Kenya due to the controversial statements he made during his recent visit to the country.
While in Kenya to inaugurate the Pan African Institute at Lukenya University, Malema criticized President William Ruto, accusing him of not fulfilling the promises he made to Kenyans during the 2022 General Election campaign.
He pointed out the disparity between President Ruto’s election promises and his actions as the current Head of State.
“I don’t know if President William Ruto means it because he said so many things, and I can’t locate him these days, because the things he said during the election and the things he’s doing now are two different things,” Malema said on 9 November, the same day President Ruto was delivering a State of the Nation Address.
The outspoken South African opposition leader also criticized President Ruto for not challenging King Charles on colonialism during his recent visit to Kenya and expressed disapproval of Ruto’s support for Israel in the current conflict with Hamas.
In response to Mr. Malema’s comments, Kenya’s government has reacted sternly, with Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua among the political leaders condemning Malema.
“We’d like to appeal to visitors to respect the leaders of their host countries. We travel overseas and we don’t insult the leaders of those countries. We don’t interfere with their politics.
“This man who came here is all-knowing. By the afternoon he seemed to know more about Kenya than us. I visited his own country in December and they ration electricity for seven hours; yet we don’t discuss this because we respect them,” Gachagua said.
On Sunday, Senator Cherargei claimed that Malema had insulted President William Ruto and the Kenyan people. He said Malema should apologize in addition to being denied entry into Kenya.
“Mr. Malema should stop coming to Kenya and insult our president. In fact, I want to ask the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to demand an apology from Julius Malema and the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) party of South Africa and to deny him a visa to come to Kenya again,” said Cheragei.
“He should tender an unreserved apology not only to President Ruto but to the great people of Kenya because when you insult William Ruto as the president you are insulting all Kenyans.”
