President William Ruto has reacted to the viral Kasongo nickname that has been making rounds on social media over the last few weeks.
Speaking on Friday in Bungoma County during the burial of National Assembly Speaker Moses Wetangula’s mother Maayi Nanyama, the president jokingly referred to the ‘Kasongo’ and ‘Zakayo’ names as good.
Kuna watu wengine wako huko kwa mitandao hawataki sana tuseme hiyo mambo kwa sababu wanataka tu kuendelea kusema hakuna kazi inaendelea huku Kenya, fitina, story…mara Kasongo, Zakayo.
The name is derived from Super Orchestra Mazembe song in which a woman urges her husband named Kasongo to return to their marriage.
He also expressed that he has no concerns with the viral ‘Kasongo’ song which rose to renewed fame on social media.
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Ruto added that the Zakayo moniker is equally good as his administration is on a mission to collect taxes that will move the country forward.
Hiyo Kasongo ni sawa, ni wimbo mzuri ambao ulikuwa unaendelea so tuendelee nayo. Ile ya Zakayo pia si mbaya kwa sababu tunakusanya ushuru ya kupeleka Kenya mbele. Hiyo ni sawa.”
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The reaction demosntarates that the President is in the know of conversations in social media spaces where the moniker and the song have gone viral.
Last year, the president sparked excitement with his reaction to the Zakayo moniker that was linked to him owing to a raft of tax measures his government has implemented and supported.
Ruto embracing 'Zakayo' nickname
Speaking during a function in Muranga on Friday, July 21, Ruto shrugged off the nickname and said that he will continue to work hard to improve the lives of Kenyans and raise revenue to run the country.
Also from here in Muranga, you have given me a person to collect tax. Other people call me Zakayo but the real Zakayo is here with us (referring to the then Treasury CS (Prof Njuguna Ndungu)
The name Zakayo is Swahili for Zacchaeus, which is a reference to the biblical character who was a tax collector.
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Tax collectors were often unpopular with the taxes disliked by the people, similar to the opposition that the taxes introduced by the Kenya Kwanza regime received.