It’s been a while since I heard from Mining Cabinet Minister Ali Hassan Joho, aka “Sultan,” but that’s only because he has been burrowed deep in the bowels of the earth, leading the way in prospecting for minerals.
Understandably, Joho was riled by Kenyans who seem to derive particular pleasure from trolling others online, including Joho, who claimed he was the subject of one such attack earlier in the week for some unstated reason.
And Kenyans online decided to “greet” him by sending a shilling through his Mpesa number. Those are many messages, considering the Mpesa daily limit is Sh500,000. That’s potentially half a million messages at a one-shilling rate.
Joho wasn’t fazed by that; even though his voice got shrill with agitation. He welcomed many more “greetings” to come his way, if only the senders would consider upping their contributions to Sh100.
Joho is known to be fabulously wealthy, and I doubt very much that a hundred bob shillings users would mean much. A bit of clarity was gained as his diatribe ran out of steam. He said some social media users were gleeful about Baba’s flagging fortunes in the forthcoming polls in Addis.
The millions of youthful users of social media in Kenya have no votes to cast next February, so Joho’s censure made zero sense. But again, perceptions can be stronger than reality. If Baba’s credentials are contested online, then that could have a bearing in Addis. That’s enormous power for young Kenyans to wield, and that irks Joho. I suggest he returns to the underground and prospect for minerals.