Kanye West and Kim Kardashian were both given Ugandan names on Monday by the country’s President, Yoweri Museveni.
The couple met with the African leader while on their campaign to promote tourism in East Africa.
Kanye, now called Ye during the meeting presented a pair of his brand sneakers signed by himself and his wife to Museveni, who in turn gave the couple new names.
The President dubbed Kanye “Kanyesigye”, a common name among the Banyankore, the ethnic group that Museveni hails from. Kardashian was granted the name “Kemigisha”, meaning “the one with blessings from God,” the President’s office said in a statement.
Reacting, Kanye “expressed happiness at being in Uganda, describing it as his second home,” the statement said. It added that the 41-year-old rapper pledged to put up a “world class tourism school in the country saying it will be a foundation of tourism not only in Uganda but the East Africa region in general.”
The couple arrived the country on Friday and are staying at a luxury safari lodge in a national park that boasts spectacular waterfalls and wild game including buffaloes, antelopes, lions, giraffes and warthogs.
Museveni, 74, has been in office since 1986 and in January signed a law that scrapped a 75-year age cap for presidential candidates, a move critics said was aimed at him remaining in power indefinitely.
