NAIROBI, Kenya, Apr 10 – The official residence of the President of the Republic Kenya has made the leap into the digital era by setting up social media accounts.
The State House Kenya Facebook page was created a day before Kenyatta’s swearing in and as at 1140am on Wednesday had over 28,342 Likes with Uhuru Kenyatta asking Kenyans to ‘like’ the new page in a post on his own Facebook page, together with a link.
The page administrators uploaded 96 pictures of Tuesday’s swearing-in ceremony as well as the luncheon held thereafter in an album titled, “President Uhuru Kenyatta’s Swearing In Ceremony,” and with the accompanying text; “In pictures, the swearing in ceremony that marked President Kibaki’s exit and the entry of President Uhuru Kenyatta.”
“Good Morning Kenya. Our work begins now. Kindly like the State House Kenya page to stay connected on what our Government is doing.”
Kenyatta also posted a link to the State House Kenya Twitter account which as at 11.48am had 4,385 followers having retweeted @UKenyatta’s link to his inauguration speech and a tweet sent by Kenyatta’s deputy @WillimsRuto on Wednesday morning.
The tweet reads, “Good morning Kenya. Together lets walk the journey of building this great country.”
Kenyatta’s Facebook page boasts the highest number of ‘likes’ at 487,222 as of Wednesday morning compared to those of his competitors.
Raila Odinga’s page, Kenyatta’s closest contender in the presidential race, had 134,424 likes on Wednesday morning.
Kenyatta’s Twitter lead is smaller with his verified account having 156,998 followers as at midday and with Odinga’s verified account having 145,008 at the same time.
This led Kenyatta’s Jubilee coalition to send a message of gratitude to all those who supported his presidential bid at the end of the campaign period.
“We thank the Social Media fraternity in Kenya, bloggers and general internet users for making the Jubilee Presidential Candidate Uhuru Kenyatta’s Facebook page the most popular in Kenya. At the moment (time of sending this mail), the likes stand at 423,337, and rising every second.”
On March 2, the coalition sent the message: “We wish to assure Kenyan bloggers that when the Jubilee Coalition wins the 2013 elections on Monday, the new government will mainstream Social Media in governance and administration.”
President Uhuru Kenyatta and his Deputy William Ruto dubbed themselves the “digital team,” during their campaign period and given State House Kenya has joined Facebook and signed up for Twitter, it is clear they meant it both literally and figuratively.
Source:capitalfm.co.ke
