Remarks made by Deputy President William Ruto on Saturday in Kitutu Chache South have elicited excitements among his Gusii supporters following his strong grip in Ekegusii language.
In the gathering, a charismatic Ruto, walking on the path of his political mentor Raila Odinga, easily greeted people in Ekegusii language.
"Abanto baminto mbuya more? Mbuya more nainde? Nyasae nomuya? mnanipata kweli? Chingaki chionsi," he said.
This loosely translates to: "I great all of you. God is good?, And all the time?"
And on various social media forums, residents hailed him as an intellectual who could easily move masses.
"The doyen can even speak fluent mother tongue. He's superb and I just got lost when he said everything fluently," argued David Ogwagwa, his top campaigner.
Lawrence Nyangena added:"It takes intelligence to grasp those lines given that he's not even Bantu. This was superb."
But for Nation investigative reporter Nyambega Gisesa, Ruto's punchlines connected well with masses and that it was a massive score for him.
"This is connecting with masses and he got it right. That's what people want and he exactly gave them," he argued.
For the last few months, Ruto has intensified his Gusii region campaigns, making a whopping 10 trips in as many months, the highest by any aspiring presidential candidate.
Both Kisii and Nyamira Counties have a total of 800,000 votes and the figure could be slightly over a million by 2022.
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