‘I Was Misunderstood’ — President Ruto of Kenya Apologises Over His Nigerian Accent Joke
President William Ruto has addressed the backlash following his controversial remarks about Nigerian-accented English, insisting he was misunderstood.
While speaking to Kenyans in Italy on Monday, April 20, Ruto praised Kenya’s education system and command of English, saying, “Our education is good.
Our English is good. We speak some of the best English in the world.” He then added, “If you listen to a Nigerian speaking, you don’t know what they are saying. You need a translator even when they are speaking English,” a comment that sparked laughter but quickly drew criticism online.
The remarks triggered outrage among Nigerians and other Africans, many of whom accused the Kenyan leader of mocking a fellow African nation.
However, speaking on Tuesday, April 28, at a mining conference in Nairobi, Ruto pushed back on the narrative, saying his words were taken out of context.
“You know, I was speaking to my fellow citizens somewhere, and it was supposed to be a private conversation, but somebody decided that it should be made public. It was also misrepresented,” he said.
He added, “The fact is that I was talking about how we in Africa speak very good English, all of us. In fact, in some countries like Nigeria, if you do not speak excellent English like the one we speak in Kenya, you may need a translator to understand the excellent English of Nigeria.”
But he was right. The man can’t even joke just because he is a President?
making a joke about a non-subject. The truth of matter is that every where where English is spoken, even French or any other language for that matter, there is a local accent, including in UK itself. One time I was in Crawley, between London and Brighton, when I took my clothes to the laundry the lady asked my “naim”. I took me time to realise she wanted my name. Scots, Australians, … speak English with their own accent. Africans speak English with a mixture of their native language accent and accent of the where the teachers came from. In Zimbabwe one can say “she works in a benk”, in Zambia it is “she works in a bank”. In Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania one can say “this is my fast, thad time” In Zambia it is “This is my fest, thed time”. Kikuyu’s in Kenya say, e.g. “I am hugry”, for “I am hungry”. So which English is the President joking about? Good English, or the best English is good or best only in your local community. Good education cannot be judged how one speaks English. If the president has no jokes, stop joking!