Egypt leader berates ‘Kiki challenge’ participants in jest

A picture taken on January 18, 2018, shows a billboard in a street in central Cairo’s Ramses district, bearing the image of Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi. AFP

CAIRO, Egypt — Egypt’s president has laughingly berated Egyptians participating in an online dance challenge in response to the so-called “Kiki challenge” to a song by Canadian singer Drake.

Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi’s light-hearted mention Sunday of the dance challenge contrasts with a report last week by Egypt’s official news agency warning that penalties awaited participants in the challenge for endangering lives and violating public decency and traffic laws.

“You keep riding cars and doing Kiki,” el-Sissi said as he uncontrollably laughed. Turning to the oil minister, he jokingly said: “Raise the price of petrol without a worry.” El-Sissi’s government has hiked fuel prices three times since 2016.

The challenge unleashed a social media buzz, with video postings of film stars and sports celebrities dancing alongside slow moving cars going viral. /cbb