Mighty Salim among top Google search trends for Kenyans in January

Google search trends in January reveal that the deaths of renowned ‘Mugithi’ musician Mighty Salim and American television and radio host Larry King dominated search queries.

The love for football continues to preoccupy Kenyans with the FA Cup amongst the top 10 searches in January. Jack Ma and Museveni were among the top trending living personalities searched in January.

Ugandan elections topped January search trends as Kenyans were interested in this year’s election since the country is Kenya’s closest neighbor and a trading partner.

They were curious to get information about the campaign trails and what was happening after the government decided to shut down internet access across the country for days, restricting access to social media sites.

Second in the trending list is FA Cup. Kenyans’ love for football continued as they searched to know when matches were being played, the results and the teams that qualified to the next round.

M-Pesa charges 2021 emerged as the third trending Search query. Kenyans looked for the updated figures after Safaricom announced changes to M-Pesa charges after a waiver on mobile money transaction fees under Ksh.1,000 lapsed.

The fourth trending query was Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS) shortlisted candidates. Kenyans searched to find out if they were among the 90,057 candidates shortlisted for the KWS Community Scout positions.

The scouts will assist in wildlife conservation efforts as part of the National Government post-COVID-19 economic stimulus program announced by the President on 23 May 2020.

Killing Eve, the British spy thriller television series, closed the top 5 trending searches by Kenyans in January. This was after Lawrence Warunge, a university student who allegedly killed 5 family members in Kiambu stated that he was inspired by the series.

The sixth trending Search query was the Georgia Election Results after run-offs were conducted in the U.S. state. The election was considered to be a determinant of the control of the US Senate and, in turn, the fate of the then US President-elect Joe Biden’s legislative agenda.

The football craze among Kenyans continued in the month with the EPL Table 2021 appearing at position seven. Fixtures kept changing with some matches being postponed due to COVID-19, and Kenyans wanted to be up-to-date with the standings of the English League.

The Trump Impeachment was the eighth trending Search query after the House of Representatives voted for his impeachment. He was accused of inciting a riot during the certification of the Presidential election when a mob stormed the Capitol building. Kenyans searched to know the proceedings of the impeachment.

The images and selfies of the current Minister of Water Affairs in Sudan left many internet users in stitches. Kenyans turned to Search to confirm if the images circulating were truly of the minister, placing him in the ninth position of the trending search queries.

Closing out the top ten trending search queries in January 2021 was the KDF Recruitment 2021 Dates.

The Kenya Defence Forces (KDF) announced the recruitment of General Service Officer (GSO) Cadets and Specialist Officers General Duty Recruits, Tradesmen/Women and Defence Forces Constables into the Kenya Defence Forces.

Kenyans turned to search to check on the requirements for the advertised positions and the recruitment dates showing that jobs are needed.

In the trending personalities, the deaths of renowned ‘Mugithi’ musician and American media personality Mighty Salim and Larry King respectively, sent Kenyans looking for details about them on Google search.

Jack Ma was third in the list after the media reported that he had gone missing, causing speculations over his whereabouts. Uganda’s president Yoweri Museveni closed the trending personalities by Kenyans in January.

He was declared the winner after the heated campaigns marked by a crackdown on the opposition, an internet blackout and accusations of vote tampering and rigging.