President William Ruto on Wednesday wore the shoes of a class teacher during the Africa Climate Summit that is currently taking place at KICC.
Ruto who had previously taught the delegates Kiswahili words on Tuesday, wanted to get a feel of whether his students had learnt the lessons well.
"These are the greetings just so you find your way around. 'Jambo' is the greeting. When someone tells you 'jambo', you reply with 'jambo'. It is simple," he said on Tuesday during the second day of the summit.
But on Wednesday, it was clear that the delegates had forgotten about the lessons.
Ruto was then compelled to do another lesson teaching the delegates about the terminologies.
“I gave you some lessons yesterday,….mambo….Jambo…," he said but he could not hear any audible response.
He then decided to teach the delegates again for the second time.
"... Okay let me do it again. When I say 'Jambo' you say 'Jambo'...Meaning Hallo..Hallo ,” he said.
“When I say 'Mambo' you say 'poa'… poa means cool. Mambo?” Ruto posed as the delegates responded with unison across the room.
Ruto went ahead and taught the delegates how to thank each other in Kiswahili.
“One final lesson. How to say thank you. You say 'Asante' or 'Asante sana'..let's go….,” Ruto said as the delegates replied 'Asante sana' in unison as others laughed.
“Very good. At least you have some lessons from home. May God bless you.”
According to the United Nations, Swahili is “among the 10 most widely spoken languages in the world, with more than 200 million speakers.
With its origin in East Africa, Swahili speakers spread over more than 14 countries including Tanzania, Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda and Burundi among others.
During his speech, Ruto said the delegates' presence at the African Climate Summit has sent an emphatic signal to the world that a new Africa is here and it means business.
“Your participation in the Summit has further demonstrated your individual as well as our collective dedication to represent our peoples and champion their most important aspirations in every critical forum regionally, continentally and globally,” he said.
