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.”
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