President William Ruto on Thursday, March 13, spoke out over the move by Kenyans to continuously brandish him with nicknames even after Kenyans recently referred to him as “El Chapo,” asking if the trend would ever cease.
While speaking in Dagoretti in his latest Nairobi region development tour, Ruto referred to the various nicknames such as “Hustler,” “Survivor,” “Zakayo,” and “Kasongo,” which trended nationwide, with some Kenyans even making chants and songs.
“To the people of Nairobi, let me ask you, aren’t you going to finish me with these names? You began with hustler, and then you said survivor, which was followed by Zakayo. Later it became Kasongo,” Ruto stated.
“With these names, how many more are you going to add? Are you going to add another, or are they enough?” Ruto quipped, enjoying the light moment with the crowd.
This is after the President got branded as “El Chapo” this week over his recent move of pledging to donate money to buy a chapati-making machine capable of making one million chapatis daily to a Nairobi school.
The pledge came after Nairobi Governor Johnson Sakaja had requested Ruto for the machine to boost his 'Dishi na County' school feeding program at St. Teresa Girls Secondary School in Mathare.
The name quickly caught online, with Kenyans quick to make memes and even use artificial intelligence to generate images of millions of chapatis in a factory.
The nickname, seemingly a move aimed at ridiculing the President, was a way for Kenyans to see the funny side of Ruto’s pledge even as the country grapples with tough economic times, development challenges, and many other teething issues.
Many Kenyans online took aim at Ruto’s penchant for passing what many would see as trivial achievements as major milestones, accusing him of having misplaced priorities.
The frustrated Kenyans drew parallels with leaders from other countries, such as Japan and China, who launch projects that bring significant development to their people, with Kenya lagging behind with its ‘unserious’ projects.
In the past, Ruto has hit out at Kenyans over nicknames such as Zakayo and Kasongo, noting that he was no longer bothered about them.
While acknowledging the two titles, the Head of State claimed that his critics had resorted to naming him Kasongo because of his incredible intelligence.
According to him, he was no longer bothered by the negative criticism as long as he fulfilled the purpose for which he was elected by Kenyans.
