Avicii, Arsene Wenger, Matiba among top Kenyan Google searches

Search engine giant Google has released top trending searches in Kenya for the week of April 15 to April 22, 2018.

Top on the list was Avicii, a Swedish D.J. and electronic dance music producer, who died on Friday,, April 20 at the age of 28. Avicii, whose real name is Tim Bergling, was found dead in Muscat, the capital of Oman – a popular vacation destination on the Arabian Peninsula.

His death was confirmed by a spokeswoman, Diana Baron, who did not specify the cause. The talented Swedish hit-maker, known for tracks like Hey Brother and Wake Me Up had retired from live performances due to health issues in 2016.

Trending at number two was football with FA Cup semi-final match; Man United vs Tottenham dominating the category.

Also dominating the football searches was Arsene Wenger who has announced his intention to leave Arsenal at the end of the season, ending a near 22-year reign as manager.

The 68-year-old French football manager and former player, departs a year before his latest contract was due to expire, and having won three Premier League titles and seven FA Cups, including the Double in 1998 and 2002.

Kenneth Matiba trended at number three as Kenyans sought to find details of his demise. The veteran Kenyan politician and activist for democracy passed way on the evening of Sunday, April 15 at the age of 85 years while undergoing treatment at the Karen Hospital following a long illness.

Matiba, a former Member of Parliament for Kiharu Constituency, Minister for Transport and Communications, Health, Culture and Social Services had come in at second place in the 1992 presidential election, and seventh in the December 2007 elections.

The week also saw Kenyans go online in search of Ali Kiba’s wedding. The Tanzanian singer-songwriter, real name Ali Saleh Kiba, on Thursday, April 19 wedde Mombasa-born Amina Khalif in an event that brought together celebrated music stars, businessmen and high ranking politicians; among them Mombasa Governor Hassan Joho.

Ali Kiba’s wedding was the fourth trending item on Google search.

Earth Day – an annual event celebrated on April 22 to demonstrate support for environmental protection – was the fifth trending item. This year’s Earth Day is dedicated to providing the information and inspiration needed to fundamentally change human attitude and behaviour about plastics.

Trending at number six was Diamond Platnumz’s arrest. The Bongo star, real name Nasseb Abdul, was on Monday April 16 arrested and questioned by police over a footage he had posted on social media that authorities said breached their cultural norms.

Grace Kipchoim, the late Baringo South Member of Parliament was the seventh trending search item on Google. The 49-year-old legislator passed away on Friday morning while undergoing treatment at Nairobi Hospital after a long battle with colon cancer.

The Kenya Power and Lighting Company (KPLC) tokens delay was the eighth trending search item on Google as Kenyans went online to vent their frustrations over the glitch in KPLC’s electronic payment system that made it difficult to top up tokens on prepaid meters, along with claims of inflated power bills.

Trending at number nine was the resignation of IEBC Commissioners. Earlier in the week, IEBC Vice Chair Connie Maina together with commissioners Paul Kurgat and Margaret Mwachanya had announced their resignation from the commission citing lack of faith in Chairman Wafula Chebukati.

The resignations came in the wake of a recent decision by a section of the commissioners to send CEO Ezra Chiloba on compulsory leave to allow an audit of the 2017 election financial processes.

Closing the list of top ten trending Kenyan searches for the week was the Julius Malema Challenge. #JuliusMalemaChallenge started on Saturday afternoon following the Economic Freedom Fighters  (EFF) leader’s speech at Winnie Madikizela-Mandela’s funeral – where he called out leaders of the government for their hypocrisy in how they betrayed Winnie Mandela.

A section of Kenyans online joined the challenge so as to air their frustrations on some of the issues they had noticed going on.

Here are results for the most popular searches by Kenyans in the past week in descending order:

1. Avicii
2. Football: Manchester United vs Tottenham, Arsene Wenger
3. Kenneth Matiba
4. Alikiba wedding
5. Earth day
6. Diamond Platnumz arrested
7. Grace Kipchoim
8. KPLC token delay
9. IEBC commissioners resign
10. Julius Malema Challenge