President William Ruto suffered one of the most embarrassing moments of his presidency on Sunday night in New York when a Kenyan living in the United States shouted “Wantam” directly at him during an address, a moment that has since gone viral and sent shockwaves through his inner circle.
Ruto had just arrived in New York for the annual United Nations General Assembly meeting when the incident occurred. In the middle of his address to a gathering of Kenyans in the diaspora, one bold attendee rose and shouted the now-famous one-term declaration right to the President’s face, in a room thousands of miles away from home but carrying the same message that has been echoing across Kenya’s streets, social media platforms and political rallies for months.
Wantam emerged in mid-2025 as one of the most powerful grassroots political slogans in Kenya’s recent history. It is used by citizens and critics to declare that President Ruto should serve only a single term and be voted out in the 2027 general election. The term was born out of deep public frustration over economic hardships, a punishing cost of living, excessive taxation and a long list of government promises that have gone unfulfilled. It has since become the defining battle cry of the opposition and the youth movement, standing in sharp contrast to the ruling party’s counter-slogan “Tutam” which signals a push for Ruto to complete two full terms in office.
The moment the shout rang out in New York, the atmosphere in the room shifted visibly. Those around the President reportedly froze, their faces falling as the reality sank in that the Wantam gospel has crossed oceans and taken root even among Kenyans living eight thousand miles away from Nairobi. Ruto’s body language changed noticeably, though the meeting proceeded.
The incident has sparked a pointed conversation among Kenyans back home, with many observing that the man who shouted Wantam in New York did so from the safety of American soil.
The uncomfortable question being asked loudly on social media is whether he would have had the courage, or survived the consequences, of doing the same thing in Kenya, where those who have spoken out against the government have faced abduction, intimidation, and worse.
Here is the video of the moment a Kenyan living in the United States shouted Wantam directly at President William Ruto.
https://twitter.com/citynews254/status/2101994951592526249/video/1
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