President Uhuru Kenyatta on Thursday left his delegates chuckling after he forgot former UK Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson’s second name.
While addressing Kenyans during a live press conference, Uhuru forgot Boris’s name calling him ‘the Bicycle guy’.
The President was answering a question from a journalist who asked him what he felt about British leaders not coming to Kenya for more than 30 years.
“Last year if you recall the Foreign Secretary then, Boris…erm…Boris…Boris Johnson…the bicycle guy was here,” Uhuru said amid laughter in the crowd.
Uhuru was standing next to the UK Prime Minister Theresa May when he made the remarks. She could be seen smiling and there was more chuckling from May’s delegation that sat on the President’s right hand side.
The last time a British PM visited Kenya was Margaret Thatcher in 1988.
“Yes, it’s been 30 years plus. I don’t want to dwell on the past, but we are looking to the future and we welcome the PM today and I’m sure as we’ve discussed this is the first of hopefully many visits in the future,” Uhuru said.
Boris was used to cycling all the way around London making him be known as the guy who loves riding bikes on the road. But he gave up cycling more than 570 kilometres per year.
Earlier, Nairobi and London reached a deal to return cash stolen in Kenya and stashed in British banks.
Uhuru said the deal is part of the renewed fight against corruption.
This is the second agreement Kenya has signed with a foreign country after a similar one reached with Switzerland on July 9.
“Depriving people of the proceeds of their crimes is a major deterrent against the vice. We are determined to make it painfully unrewarding and expensive to get involved in corruption in Kenya,” Uhuru said.
He said other agreements reached during their bilateral talks included cooperation on national and regional security. There was specific emphasis on fighting al Shabaab terrorists.
May promised to support Kenya by providing military equipment to enhance borderline aviation security, capacity building and information sharing.