Kenyan leader under scrutiny for allegedly breaking promise to de-dollarize

Julius Malema, a prominent opposition member in South Africa, claims that William Ruto’s activities run counter to a plan to stop using US dollars in commerce.

Leader of the opposition in South Africa, Julius Malema, has charged that Kenyan President William Ruto has not followed through on pledges he made prior to assuming office, including a decision to stop using the US currency in inter-African commerce.

Head of the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) in South Africa, Malema made the remarks on Thursday during the opening of the Pan African Institute at Lukenya University in Kenya.

President William Ruto stated so many things that I’m not sure if he meant it or not. The opposition leader remarked, “I can’t find him these days because what he said during the elections and what he is doing now are two different things.”

In August of last year, Ruto was sworn in as Kenya’s fifth president amid accusations of vote-rigging and a later-dropped lawsuit brought by opposition leader Raila Odinga.

The head of the Azimio Coalition, Odinga, has been critical of the Ruto administration on several occasions for raising taxes and increasing living expenses in Kenya, which have triggered violent protests throughout the nation in recent months. The president of Kenya has made a commitment to “empower hustlers” by lowering the national debt and providing financial support to families.

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In June, Ruto announced a number of additional taxes that deviated from his campaign commitments. Among them was a contentious bill that aimed to quadruple the fuel tax from 8% to 16% and impose a 1.5% housing fee on all employees.

In his first speech to the country on Thursday, the president justified his economic measures, saying that they were required to stabilise the debt position.

He posted on X (formerly Twitter) that “at least 50,000 Kenyans, who were previously jobless, are now engaged in this life-changing enterprise.”

Malema further denounced Ruto on Thursday for extending the British royals King Charles III and Queen Camilla the “red carpet” treatment when they were in Kenya.

The head of the EFF claims that the King “showed no remorse” for the crimes carried out, such as the murder of thousands of Kenyans during the Mau Mau insurrection, despite expressing regret for colonial abuses in Kenya but declining to give a formal apology.

We demand that the Kenyan government make a definite decision about who they want to be. Which would they prefer: to support neocolonialism or to be Pan Africanists? There is only one call that needs to be made, and that one is open Africanism, Malema emphasised. You cannot have it both ways.

Kimanzi Nicholas, a political analyst and researcher from Kenya, claimed in an interview with RT in September that Ruto was being used by the West, especially the US, to retain power in a number of African nations.