President William Ruto voiced his frustration on Thursday, March 13, over the growing list of nicknames Kenyans have given him.
Speaking at the opening of Lang’ata Technical and Vocational College in Nairobi, Ruto humorously questioned how many more names the public intended to assign him.
“You started with ‘hustler,’ repeated it, then moved to ‘Zakayo,’ and now I hear you’ve added ‘Kasongo.’ How many more? Are we stopping here, or should I expect ten more?” he joked.
His remarks come after Kenyans online dubbed him ‘El Chapo’ following his pledge to purchase an industrial chapati-making machine capable of producing one million chapatis daily. This initiative aims to boost Nairobi’s ‘Dishi Na County’ school feeding program.
Ruto made the promise on Tuesday after Nairobi Governor Johnson Sakaja requested government support to acquire the machine.
“The governor has asked me to provide a chapati-making machine to expand Nairobi’s menu. I have agreed—Governor, go find a supplier for a machine that can make a million chapatis a day,” Ruto announced.
The commitment sparked a wave of reactions online, with Kenyans flooding social media with memes, AI-generated images, and humorous videos imagining what a million chapatis might look like.
The nickname ‘El Chapo’ is a witty play on words, merging ‘Chapo’ (short for chapati) with the infamous Mexican drug lord’s name.
