President Barack Obama tops on Google trending search in Kenya

NAIROBI: He not only took over major roads and streets of Nairobi when he visited the country but US President Barack Obama also dominated the Internet, being the most searched in July.

His three-day visit saw Kenyans take to the Internet to find out as much as they could about the ‘son’ of Kenya, who is leading the most powerful country in the world.

According to a statement from Google Trends, the search on ‘Obama in Kenya’ was the most searched phrase in Kenya in July followed closely by the phrase ‘The Beast’ which is Obama’s official state car and one that Kenyans eagerly waited to catch a glimpse of during his visit.

“Searches related to President Obama’s historic visit to the country secured five spots out of the top 10 trends as Kenyans wanted to gather more information about his half-sister Auma Obama, The Beast, Potus — abbreviation for President of The United States, and Air Force one,” the statement partly read.

The phrase Potus took the third position with Kenyans curious to find out what it stood for after it became increasingly popular.

Dr Auma Obama, who was part of the entourage that went to receive him at the airport when he landed for the Global Entrepreneurship Summit, became an instant celebrity and a search on her took the third spot.

Other trending searches included comedian Benson Wanjau better known as Mzee Ojwang', who recently succumbed to pneumonia.

Gatundu South MP Moses Kuria was also a trending topic owing to his on-going High Court case over alleged incitement to violence.

Other prominent searches included the Emirates cup; a preseason association football invitational competition hosted by English club Arsenal. Eid Mubarak closed top 10.