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Uhuru faces fresh backlash over embarrassing tweet


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The original tweet that was later deleted from the President’s Twitter account

President Uhuru Kenyatta’s communication team has been left with egg on face after posting a toe-curling message on their official Twitter handle Wednesday afternoon.

The Presidential Strategic Communications Unit, ostensibly quoting Mr Kenyatta’s speech through its Twitter handle @PSCU_Digital, wrote: “President Kenyatta, ‘I have been out of the country for a few days as you have seen from the selfies in newspapers’.”

The faux pas has since been deleted and replaced with: “As you are aware, I have been away for a few days, as you have seen in the in the newspapers.”

Many Kenyans interpreted the tweet as arrogance on the part of the president, who already faced a backlash for remaining silent five days after the Mandera terrorist attack.

ABU DHABI SELFIE

On Sunday, a young adult woman posted a selfie she said was taken with the head of state in Abu Dhabi.

Anthony Kariuki charged:  “I care nothing about opinion polls, PR spinning and selfies. I demand security!”

Samland said: “In fact that was a statement load with arrogance and sheer lack of respect to the deceased.”

Mac Otani added: “Either he doesn’t know the mood of the country or he doesn’t care!”

The tweet quoting the president using kafir (infidel), a derogatory slur commonly used by Al-Shabaab to refer to Christians.
The tweet quoting the President using kafir (infidel), a derogatory slur commonly used by Al-Shabaab to refer to Christians.

The communications team also quotes the President using kafir (infidel), a derogatory slur commonly used by Al-Shabaab to refer to Christians.

“President Kenyatta, ‘juzi nilikuwa Kapendo na wakasema hatukujua ni polisi tulidhani ni Turkana…same language ya kusema Kafiri’,” read the tweet.

But the Director of Digital Communication in the Office of the President Dennis Itumbi defended the tweet, despite the revision.

“I have read feedback about tweets by @PSCU_Digital and it is interesting to note your take. My take is that we have communicated factually,” he tweeted.