‘Afadhali Nipige Story na Mama’: Uhuru Sheds Light on Why He Deactivated His Twitter and Facebook Accounts

President Kenyatta has shed light on why he deactivated his social media pages. Speaking on Wednesday during the launch of the collection of signatures for the Building Bridges Initiative (BBI) at Kenyatta International Convention Centre (KICC), Uhuru said he quit social media due to insults and negative comments from Kenyans.

Kenyatta says he now prefers physical engagement as opposed to social media, which denied him peace of mind.

“Afadhali nipige story na mama [First Lady Margret Kenyatta], nilale, niamke, niende kazi na dunia iendelee,” Kenyatta said. “Mimi sio mtu wa hiyo [social media]. Ata Twitter niliondoka huko nikaona hii kitu ni bure ni matusi tu hakuna kitu inaendelea huko. Unakaa hapo unasoma, hulali,” he added.

Kenyatta’s Facebook and Twitter accounts were disabled in March 2019 over what State House Chief of Staff Nzioka Waita termed as ‘unauthorized access.’

Since the deactivation of the President’s personal accounts, all communications are done through official State House pages on Twitter and Facebook.

At the time of the deactivation, Uhuru was the most followed Kenyan with more than three million followers on Twitter.