President William Ruto has defended his recent remarks on Nigerian-accented English, which he said was difficult to understand and required a translator.

Ruto, speaking on Tuesday, April 28, 2026, at the Mining Summit in Nairobi, said his comments were taken out of context, explaining that they were made in a private setting but were later recorded and made public.

“I was captured speaking to my fellow citizens, but they misrepresented the facts,” he said, addimg, “I was misquoted. I hope there will be no consequences.”

He said that in his view, Africans generally speak English well, but that there are differences in how it is spoken across countries. He insisted that his comments were a general observation rather than a targeted criticism.

“I was talking about how we in Africa speak good English all of us. And in some countries like Nigeria, if you do not speak excellent English like the one we speak in Kenya, you might need a translator to understand it,” he said.

Earlier, Nigeria’s Minister of Solid Minerals Development, Henry Dele Alake, also responded to Ruto’s comments on English usage.

“I bring good tidings from the President and the people of the Republic of Nigeria. The people of Nigeria have mandated me to inform you and assure you that Nigerians speak good English,” he said.

President William Ruto has faced backlash on social media after suggesting that Nigerian-accented English was difficult to understand and required a translator.

Addressing Kenyans living in Italy on Monday, Ruto said: “If you listen to a Nigerian speaking, you don’t know what they are saying – you need a translator,” while boasting that Kenyans spoke “some of the best English in the world”.

The remarks triggered widespread condemnation online, with Nigerians and other Africans saying the Kenyan leader had demeaned a fellow African nation.