President William Ruto demonstrated respect for the Islamic call to prayer by pausing his speech, during the groundbreaking ceremony of the Affordable Housing Project in Starehe.
The call, known as Adhan, is a recitation by a Muazzin in a mosque that signals the time for public prayer. Adhan is performed five times a day on most days and all day during religious holidays such as Eid al-Fitr and Eid al-Adha.
The President resumed his speech after three minutes of Adhan, acknowledging the audience’s applause with a “thank you very much.”
Former President Uhuru Kenyatta similarly demonstrated his respect for the Islamic call to prayer during former President John Magufuli’s funeral mass in Tanzania on March 22, 2021.
Uhuru paused his speech for two minutes from 12:53 pm to 12:55 pm in honour of the Adhan recited in a nearby mosque in Dodoma. He resumed his speech, pleading with “Poleni wacheni niendelee kwa kusema…” as the audience applauded. This gesture won the commendation of Muslims.
Ruto is the country’s first evangelical Christian president and was a pastor in his youth days.