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Kenyan politicians take to Twitter

By , ITWeb
Africa , 09 Jul 2012

Kenyan politicians take to Twitter

Kenyan politicians have taken to social media network, Twitter, to interact and attract voters ahead of the 2013 presidential and general election race.

And these politicians are understood to be using this platform to discuss the country’s political issues, rather than making the focusing on ethnic loyalties, as occurred in the 2008 election.

Members who are increasingly becoming active on the social network site include Prime Minister Raila Odinga, Uhuru Kenyatta, Martha Karua, William Ruto, Peter Kenneth, and Kalonzo Musyoka.

It’s further been reported that leading presidential candidate, Martha Karua, has even gone as far as to setup a live press conferences on the social network, answering questions from supporters and critics.

Karua, nicknamed 'Iron Lady', has been running the #AskMarthaThurs for three hours every Thursday, to receive and answer questions from Twitter users in Kenya and around the world.

And so far she has 80 000 followers on Twitter, the highest number in Kenya.

Her live Twitter 'sessions' have tackled job creation, youth and women empowerment, security, reforms and the war on corruption, as well as her plans for managing the recent oil find in the East African country.

It is a discourse that has seen both Karua and other politicians make policy commitments that have previously been extremely rare in the country.

Other politicians like Uhuru Kenyatta @Ukenyatta and Raila Odinga @RailaOdinga are also using the site to spread their manifestos.

Likewise, the politicians' campaign teams are also using the platform in their efforts to drum up electoral support and updating followers on the campaign progress, rallies and agenda.

Michelle Fondo, a member of Martha Karua’s team last year, said that social media allows information to reach the audience faster and at much lower costs than traditional media.

“This presents an opportunity to share with Kenyans information about the candidate, the party and the campaign faster and with no limit as to how much information can be sent out,” she said.

However, social media analyst Francis Waithaka explains that while Twitter is a powerful tool that politicians can use to amplify their online campaigns, followers do not necessarily translate to votes.

“Unfortunately most politicians or their social media strategists are doing it the wrong way. I have noted that most of them lack content to share with followers. They also take long to respond when they are covered negatively,” said Waithaka.

He reckons the best strategy to use Twitter effectively as a campaigning tool is to always keep followers engaged.

It can also be used to mobilize followers and supporters to attend event.

“Social media strategists for politicians should have a 24-hour surveillance to monitor what people are saying and respond appropriately by correcting the lies and rumours that are very common in a campaign period,” he said.

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