The Google Search Trends in January reveal that Mpesa charges, Ugandan Elections and the deaths of renowned ‘Mugithi’ musician Mighty Salim and American television and radio host Larry King dominated Search queries by Kenyans in January 2021.
The love for football continued to preoccupy Kenyans with the FA Cup amongst the top 10 searches in January. Jack Ma and Yoweri Museveni were also among the top trending living personalities searched in January.
Ugandan Elections topped January Search Trends as Kenyans were interested in this year’s General election. Kenyans were curious to get information about the elections and what was happening after the Ugandan government shut down internet access across the country for days.
The second was football with Kenyans looking up the FA Cup, they searched to know when matches were being played, the results and the teams that qualified to the next round.
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Mpesa Charges 2021 came in third, Kenyans looked for the updated figures after Safaricom announced changes to MPESA charges after a waiver on mobile money transaction fees under Sh1,000 lapsed.
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The fourth trending query was KWS Shortlisted Candidates. Kenyans searched to find out if they were among the 90,057 candidates shortlisted for the Kenya Wildlife Service (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.
The British spy thriller television series, Killing Eve, closed the top 5 trending searches as Kenyans rushed to learn more about the show 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, the seventh was the EPL Table 2021, at eighth was the Trump Impeachment while 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.
Also Read: Where is Jack Ma? Chinese Tech Billionaire Reportedly Missing
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.
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