Kenyans last night watched the second presidential debate in the country’s history, with land and corruption taking centre stage.
According to data released by Opinion Yetu, new entrant Abduba Dida has received the most attention on social media having been mentioned 44,284 times, ahead of Uhuru Kenyatta, who was mentioned 37,562 times in the days preceding and following the debate.
In total, 132,493 updates were shared on February 25 about the election, 124,103 of which were shared in the time between 18:00 and 23:00 Kenyan time, the website shows.
Other candidates who were also heavily mentioned on social media included Raila Odinga on 15,735, Martha Karua on 8,099, Paul Muite on 7,357, Musalia Mudavadi on 5,545, Peter Kenneth on 4,801 and James Kiyaipi on 720
Of the debate issues, most discussed on social media was land, receiving 28,673 mentions on social media, with corruption registering 7,906 mentions, perhaps reflecting the most thorny issue of the debate
Central to the land issue was Uhuru Kenyatta, whose family is said to own huge tracts of land. Kenyatta refuted claims that any of that land was acquired illegally, insisting all land was acquired on “a willing buyer willing seller basis”
Kenyatta revealed his family owned 30,000 acres of land, 4,000 acres of which had been donated to squatters.
Prime Minister Raila Odinga was also taken to task over the Molasses plant land in Kisumu, which his family is accused of acquiring illegally despite the community having contributed to the purchase of the same. Odinga told viewers the family had not acquired the land and was holding it on behalf of the community until it is listed on the stock exchange, from where the community would acquire shares.
On corruption allegations, Mudavadi, Kenneth, Muite and Odinga countered various accusations levelled at them by the moderators as well as their fellow candidates.
Apart from land and corruption, the minimum wage question also saw mentions on social media, although there was no outright answer from the candidates on what amount they would set as the minimum wage.
Other top trending topics were the Goldenberg scandal involving presidential candidate Mudavadi and Muite, free education involving Kiyaipi, post election violence, healthcare and Anglo Leasing.
The debate marked the last encounter that will see the presidential candidates together before the elections, as their campaigns enter the home stretch with the general election set for March 4.
