Why does the Kenya President attract so many nicknames

Kenya President William Ruto is a man with many nicknames.

Deputy Jesus, El Chapo, Hustler and Chicken Seller are just some he has acquired in recent years.

As is often the case, when people get alternative coins, some are attached, but some are intended to make fun and reflect deep anger.

The history of the president’s alias offers a window on how the perception of it has changed.

Ruto acknowledged the re -trend, joking recently that the Kenyans “finished” it with numerous labels.

“You gave me so many names. I had the name William Kipchircir Samay Ruto. You added a survivor … Zraayo … Now you are in Kasongo (the title of the Congoish song for abandonment and heartbeat). Will you stop at ten or have to prepare for more?” he asked recently.

The rally crowd in the capital Nairobi replied that they had even more.

Before he was elected President in 2022, Ruto attracted handles that strengthened his reputation as a person to people.

Hustler – a Kenyan language for someone who earns his living against the chances – helped to present him as a person who would prioritize the needs of people’s struggle.

The chicken seller, referring to his childhood when he walked poultry on the road, resonated with many who saw his life as the embodiment of their own.

“They were very positive (names). They sold it to the public regarding the voices,” political analyst Prof. Herman Manorara told the BBC, arguing that they had helped him to catapult him in the highest job.

“The names really stick to Ruto,” he added.

But the president has been a high-profile figure in Kenyan politics for a long time, including being Deputy President for nine years until 2022 and has never been far from the dispute.

Prof. Manoora recalls the label Arap Mashama – which translates as the “son of the Farms” – created just less than a decade and refers to the ownership of Ruto on the huge sections of land across the country. Fears were expressed about how some of them were acquired.

In 2013, the court ordered the Ruto to hand over a 100 -acre farm (40 hectares) and to compensate for a farmer, who accused him of grabbing him during the 2007 election. He denied any misconduct.

Ruto’s average tendency to quote biblical poems also won him a deputy Jesus.

However, after his rise to the Presidency, the nickname producers work extraordinarily – with the creation of at least a dozen – and they become more and more critical.

One who stands out is Zarayo – Swahili for the name Zakia, a biblical figure who is represented as a greedy tax collector who climbed a tree to see Jesus.

The Ruto Government introduced a raft of unpopular taxes and many Kenyans began to say that he had handed over “Hustlers”.

“He failed to export after becoming president,” Prof. Manorara said.

The pain of paying more taxes and the notion that the extra money will be wasted is often the focus that many conversations.

Last year, young people took to the streets of Nairobi weeks of protests, which became deadly against a new government’s tax collection proposal, which had later dropped.

The Ruto Singing Song has become a rally for the demonstrators and now he has to go, has become another way to turn to the leader.

Creative baptists also focused on the claim that the president is enjoying foreign trips.

Hence the title Vasco da Ganya – a play in the name of the 15th century Portuguese researcher, Vasco da Gama and the word Swahili Danganya, which means “to lie”.

Ruto’s honesty is also called into question with Kauunda Uongoman, who imitates a late Congoan musician Kanda Bongoman.

The first part refers to the President’s love for the Caunda costume – a safari jacket with appropriate pants – and Wangoman, which includes the word Swahili uongo, which means “lies”.

But the president seems impenetrable to this volume of verbal attacks.

Government spokesman Isaac Mwaura said that the nickname of the numerous “does not raise concerns” in the president’s office, but simply “capture how people look at a person.”

Ruto is “very directed and does everything possible to transform the economy … It is normal for every leader to have many nicknames, as this means its various attributes and initiatives as a leader,” he told the BBC.

Mwaura also claims that despite the nickname of Zhuyo, the government must raise taxes to pay for new projects, reduce the budget deficit and determine the economy.

Nevertheless, when people have exceeded inventing new names and used satire and forms of art to make the eighth president, there is a negative reaction from employees.

Some cartoons and AI -generated images, including the display of the President in a casket, are described as “reckless” and “unpleasant”.

Some of the alleged producers of this online content are victims of abduction. This, said Prof. Manorara, must be seen as a sign of impatience from the government.

Lachon Kiplimo, a 23-year-old university student, said that while he supports the president, some of the promises he has made are sometimes “unrealistic”, which nourishes nicknames.

He quoted the use of El Chapo by citing former Mexican Lord of Drugs after Ruto promises a machine that will produce a million chapa (also known as Chapo in Kenya) every day to feed students in the capital.

However, Kippemo believes that the way the president deletes managers and actually looks hugging them shows how strong he is.

Prof. Manoora believes that young people who come up with alternative labels for the president make it a form of catharsis, a way of releasing tension.

This opinion is supported by 24-year-old student Margaret Wyrumu Kahura, who said many Kenyans “have a lot of pain.”

She feels that the mockery is a way to inform Ruto how young people feel.

She says no other Kenyan president has been subjected to this level of lamping and “so this is unique (but) in a bad way.”

It is true that the previous state leaders had nicknames, but they were not so numerous.

The last president, Uhuru Kenya, was called Kamvan (“Young Boy”), Jaden (a Kenyan reference to a pampered or lazy child) and waters (because of his love for print shirts).

His predecessor, Mwai Kibaki, was known as General Kiguo (a general who fears) and the fence.

Perhaps the era of social media, with its insatiable appetite for new content, to entertain people, increase the tendency to call a name.

But for many, like d -kahura, the volume of nicknames for Ruto is a real reflection of “the different problems that people face.”