Yes, President Ruto knows Kenyans have nicknamed him Zakayo because of taxes

While addressing members of the public at Times Tower, where he had gone to file his taxes, President Ruto confessed that he was aware that a section of Kenyans call him 'Zakayo', a name derived from the biblical tax collector, Zacchaeus.

The head of state was responding to a proposal suggested by a KRA official who urged him to look into establishing a taxpayers' day. 

"Since I have already been referred to as Zakayo in some areas, maybe we will have a tax collectors day, that’s a good proposal and I will consider it," he said amid laughter from the crowd. 

Ruto's nickname stems from the myriad of taxes that his administration has proposed which includes the hugely-unpopular 'House Fund' which he has severally claimed is not a 'tax' but an investment.

In 2019, then-President Uhuru Kenyatta quit Twitter after a barrage of attacks from Kenyans who, by then, were already calling him 'Jayden', which meant, an entitled golden boy with a silver-spoon childhood. 

“Ata twitter niliondoka huko nikaona hiyo kitu ni bure ni matusi tu. Unakaa hapo unasoma hulali. Afadhali nilale nipige story na mama…nilale niamke niende kufanya kazi,” he said then.