Why Ruto Suddenly Paused His Speech For 3 Minutes [VIDEO]

President William Ruto was on Monday, March 6 forced to pause his speech temporarily during the groundbreaking ceremony for 6,704 affordable housing units he was launching in Starehe Constituency, Nairobi County.

For close to three minutes, the Head of State paused his speech as a sign of respect after a nearby mosque began its call for Islamic prayers.

The president's abrupt silence was met with cheers from the crowd that attended the ceremony, who then joined in the silence after they were alerted that the call was taking place.

The whole environment was pin-drop silent for two and a half minutes until the Muslim prayers concluded. 

As the President resumed his speech, he was once again met with cheers from the audience for showing respect for the Muslim religion through his noble gesture.

President Ruto was honouring the Muslim Asr prayers, one of the five mandatory Islamic prayers.

ASR is the third prayer of the day if counted from midnight. Other prayers are Fajr (before dawn), Dhuhr (at noon), Maghrib (after sunset), and Isha (at night).

The period of Asr prayer begins approximately when the sun is halfway down from noon to sunset, after which the Maghrib prayer begins.

During the groundbreaking ceremony, the President reiterated the locations the affordable housing project would target while calling on investors to take the initiative so that this creates more job opportunities for Kenyans.

“We will be launching the construction of these local and affordable housing units in the next 90 days in Garissa, Marsabit, Uasin Gishu, Narok, Kisumu, Machakos, Kiambu, Mombasa, and in Kajiado counties.

“I am encouraging investors to step forward because we have additional opportunities in the country in the construction of these houses," he stated.

It is worth it to note that Ruto's predecessor, former President Uhuru Kenyatta, stopped his speech midway in March 2021 during the memorial service of the late President John Pombe Magfuli in Tanzania.

Uhuru, who was eulogizing the late President Magufuli, paused his speech for two minutes between 12.53 and 12:55 p.m. to honour the Dhuhr prayer in a nearby mosque in Dodoma.

“Poleni wacheni niendelee kwa kusema (My apologies, let me continue by saying)..." Uhuru said after he resumed his speech amid claps from mourners.

His actions did not go unnoticed as members of the Muslim community applauded the actions of the former Head of State for respecting different cultures in the East African Community (EAC).