Kenyans on twitter aren’t giving President Uhuru Kenyatta a break. The president made several controversial parastatal appointments on Monday and three news cycles later, some Kenyans are giving him grief about it on twitter. Those opposed to the appointments have used the hashtag #SendUhuruHome to convey their displeasure with the usual mixture of humour and acerbic wit.
The only way a Kenyan youth can be employed by UhuRuto is to look like @RobertAlai @BoniMtetezi #SendUhuruHome pic.twitter.com/STo066UgG6
— SIR KIBOR® (@ellarykibor) April 29, 2015
Uhuru returning former corrupt politicians in govt reveals his real stand on the fight against corruption #SendUhuruHome — Aswani. M (@itsAlumasi) April 29, 2015
Some of the recycled waste politicians will have to be bedridden to work.I dont think they can remeber hw to use modern equip #SendUhuruHome
— @MteteziWaraia (@mteteziwaraia) April 29, 2015
Its not just jokes and flippant comments though. The frustration many Kenyans feel is clear from some of the tweets
Unemplyed guys like me are still waiting for 15K per person promised during campaigns for national unemployment scheme #SendUhuruHome
— Mathew Rotich,EGH. (@mathew_rotich) April 29, 2015
You have shown no respect for the youths who you voted you in office. Dont take us for granted!!!! @UKenyatta#SendUhuruHome — KahiuWAGithutha.Hon (@KahiuWAGithutha) April 29, 2015
There’s also the curious question of why the president’s notoriously excitable digital press team still hasn’t come up with a foil for the hashtag.
#SendUhuruHome is trending, the hashtag crew at statehouse are crunching their heads looking for a counter…..tick tock, tick tock — Muthui Mkenya (@MuthuiMkenya) April 29, 2015
Even my good friend @OleItumbi cannot shamelessly defend the nauseating Uhuru appointments. #SendUhuruHome. Kenyans are very smart
— Boni Khalwale (@BoniMtetezi) April 29, 2015
Meanwhile there’s an appeal for caution about trying to hound the president out of his office from an unlikely corner. Activist Boniface Mwangi feels the demand for the president to exit from office is premature.
#SendUhuruHome I don’t think so. Hashtags won’t run Kenya. He was elected and has a mandate from the electorate. Wait for 2017 & vote wisely
— Boniface Mwangi (@bonifacemwangi) April 29, 2015
Perhaps it’s a good thing that the president’s PR machine is giving this one a wide berth. You have to pick your battles especially in a country where each week brings a new scandal. Nonetheless, it is worth paying attention to the subtext of the #SendUhuruHome hashtag.
To be sure, some are using it as yet another political attack point but there is also a substantial majority out there that feels genuinely let down by the President. Its how well the president addresses the grievances of this group that will determine how he will fare in 2017.
