Published on August 11, 2025 by Agencies for Kenya Online News
Last Updated on 10 months by Agencies for Kenya Online News
Governance expert Ahmed Hashi has claimed credit for coining the term “WANTAM,” using it to describe what he calls a “paramount chief” at the State House.
Speaking in a TV interview on Monday, August 11, 2025, Hashi said he predicted from the start that the current administration would fail to unite the country and would harm the economy.
“I’m the one who invented the word ‘WANTAM.’ We have a paramount chief at the State House. When he was being inaugurated, I said, ‘This is what’s going to happen: he’s going to ruin the economy, and he’s not going to bring people together,’” he said.
Hashi’s remarks come as Kenya continues to grapple with public discontent, particularly among Generation Z, who have taken to the streets and social media to protest against government policies.
President William Ruto asserted that the one-term (wantam) chants will not deter him from implementing his manifesto. “They are trying to intimidate me with threats of a one-term limit, but I tell them we will not succumb to blackmail or threats. We are committed to transforming our country,” said Ruto.
The phrase ‘Wantam’ was coined by Ruto’s opponents, especially opposition politicians, to denote that the president does not deserve reelection in 2027 over his failure to fulfil his promises.
His sentiments come days after former Prime Minister Raila Odinga made a similar clarion call for Kenyans to give Ruto’s administration space to work and reserve their opinions until the next election.
Odinga also dismissed the mounting ‘one-term’ (Wantam) chants, noting that the broad-based government would prove to be effective in service delivery.
“To the naysayers, give us space and judge us in 2027. This is going to last till 2027, after that we’ll see where we’ll go,” he said during the burial of Dr Phoebe Asiyo at Wikondiek in Homa Bay County.
“If you’re saying one term, one term…so what? It’s Kenyans who will decide the term,” Odinga added.
