Uhuru back on Twitter? Not so fast

Kenya's fourth president, Uhuru Kenyatta, the man who quit social media, is ‘back’ with a bang. 

Or is he?

His handlers say: "No".

A verified account with the identity Uhuru Kenyatta (@uhurukenyattta) has been actively posting on the social media platform X (formerly Twitter) in recent days.

475 followers

Loosely translated as "I have 475 followers, but with two likes, what's the secret, tweeps?” the user of the account wrote on June 16, 2023: "I have 475 followers, but likes ni mbili...Siri ni nini wakuu 

While the jury is still out on the professionalism of the content produced on the social media account, the re-emergence of the account has raised eyebrows. 

Despite this, the Office of the fourth president has disowned the account.

While the account holder's mission remains unclear, it may have been to tarnish the image of the president emeritus.

Fake account

"It's fake," Mr Kenyatta's spokesperson, Kanze Dena, told the Nation, without giving further details. 

She was referring to the account, @uhurrukenyatta on X. However, there is a verified account, @4thPresidentKE, on X that his office uses. By the time of going to press, the account had not updated any information since September 24.

The explanation discounts the possibility of Mr Kenyatta handling the other account purported to be run by him.

Formerly known as Twitter,  X, owned by South African-born dollar billionaire Elon Musk, has introduced government ID-based account verification for paid users to prevent impersonation and give them benefits such as "prioritized support".

"X is currently focused on account authentication to prevent impersonation and may explore additional measures, such as ensuring users have access to age-appropriate content and protecting against spam and malicious accounts, to maintain the integrity of the platform and protect healthy conversations," it said.

Mr Musk's aim was largely to combat misinformation. But with the Office of the President Emeritus' communiqué, the development not only casts aspersions on Musk's ambitions but also serves as proof that there is a problem with the system that has drastically altered interactions on X in pursuit of perfection it doesn't deliver.

When Mr Kenyatta formally left Twitter, he had nearly four million followers and followed 22 others, mainly those of prominent African personalities. 

He admitted to being bullied by Kenyans on social media, a revelation that shed light on a months-long mystery of silence that preceded his disappearance from the platforms.

The account's biodata showed he joined the platform in 2010, with a link to https://www.president.go.ke/ his official website at the time.

He stopped posting in March 2019, after writing about the fight against graft in the country. 

Authorities claimed at the time the fourth president's account had been hacked but provided no evidence to back up their claims.

At face value, the resurfaced account shows almost similar characteristics to the other one that was deactivated, except for the username, which is different. But what is more confusing is that it has been verified.

However, open source intelligence expert Mike Yambo advises looking into the details of who the account is following.

"And we don't expect Mr Kenyatta to post or repost some of the things the account user is posting because of the stature of his office," he said. "Twitter's metrics have changed. People now pay for verification, which anyone can pay for and have their username verified.

"June waiting for us," accompanied by an emoji, posted at 11.35 am on 22 May 2023, was the first post by the user, the Nation established.