Slain musician tops most searched list

The slain popular Kalenjin musician Diana Chemutai Musila, aka Chelele, who was found dead on the veranda of her house on January 9, 2016 was the most searched topic on Google by Kenyans in January. PHOTO | COURTESY

What you need to know:

  • Chelele was found dead in her house in Kapwen, Bomet County on January 9.

  • Her husband, Eric Musila, and a woman — a former employee of Musila — have since been arrested over he death.

  • The Kenya Defense Forces came third in the most popular topics among Kenyans after they were attacked by Al-Shabaab in El-Adde, in Gedo Somalia.

  • IEBC also topped the list of the most googled topics following the release of the Sh45 Billion plan for the 2017 General Election.

What are Kenyans looking for when they go online? The result will surprise many.

Slain Kalenjin musician Diana Chemutai ‘Chelele’, Netflix in Kenya and how to calculate a woman’s safe days were the most searched topics on Google by Kenyans in January this year.

Chelele was found dead in her house in Kapwen, Bomet County on January 9. Her husband, Eric Musila, and a woman — a former employee of Musila — have since been arrested over he death.

The Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) also topped the list of the most Googled topics following the release of the Sh45 billion plan for the 2017 General Election. Kenyans took a keen interest in the IEBC as they wanted to find out the jobs available ahead of the 2017 elections.

POPULAR TOPICS

The Kenya Defence Forces came third in the most popular topics among Kenyans after they were attacked by Al-Shabaab in El-Adde, in Gedo Somalia. An unknown number of KDF soldiers were killed during this attack.

Football, as usual, was among the most searched topics by Kenyans. Specifically, the FA Cup — an annual knockout cup competition in English football interested Kenyans who wanted to know more about the competition’s match schedule, fixtures and results.

David Bowie, an English singer who died on 10th January, was among the most searched personalities, alongside pioneer Mugithi singer and one-man guitarist Salim Junior, who died on Saturday, January 23.

President of Zimbabwe Robert Mugabe prompted Kenyans to Google him following reports he had suffered a heart attack and died in Singapore.

Local musician Prezzo was also on Kenyan’s minds following his interview with KTN’s Betty Kyalo on the Friday Briefing news programme.

Alan Rickman — an English actor and director known for his role as Professor Severus Snape in Harry Potter — was also searched after he died on Thursday, January 14.

SAFE DAYS

The ‘What is’ and ‘How to’ categories driven by curious Kenyans brought about some interesting searches. In the ‘How to’ category, the most searched topic was ‘How to calculate safe days’.

This indicates a growing interest in alternative and natural birth control measures. Kenyans were also interested in knowing how to write a good CV.

Other top searches include ‘How to decorate a bedroom’ among the interior-design conscious Kenyans as ‘How to cook broccoli’ came in fifth.

Among the tech-savvy youngsters, they wanted to know ‘how to make an app’ and ‘how to know Wi-Fi password’.

In the ‘What is’ category, Netflix topped the list. Netflix is a global provider of streaming movies and television programmes that recently announced a significant expansion to 190 countries, including Kenya.

Netflix topped the ‘What is’ category among Kenyans online who are huge fans of  award-winning shows such as “House of Cards” and “Orange is the New Black’. 

Kenyans wanted to know how to access Netflix and watch their favourite shows.

Kenyans were also curious to know ‘what is mountain of butterflies’ after Google released its first doodle of the year, celebrating the mountain of butterflies — a haven for butterflies that was first discovered 41 years ago in the Sierra Madre Mountains of Mexico, by a group of Canadian zoologists.

The topic ‘What is the best site for football predictions’ was the third topic, fuelled by a growing betting and gambling culture by young people.