Uhuru tops tweeting leaders’ list

President Uhuru Kenyatta (second left) is Africa’s most followed president on Twitter, ahead of Rwanda’s Paul Kagame and South Africa’s Jacob Zuma. PHOTO/PSCU 

In Summary

• Ninety five per cent of his tweets are @replies to other users, a global study of world leaders on Twitter, Twiplomacy, has revealed.

By NGARE KARIUKI
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Uhuru Kenyatta is Africa’s most followed president on Twitter, ahead of Rwanda’s Paul Kagame and South Africa’s Jacob Zuma.

 

With 456,209 followers as of Tuesday, President Kenyatta, who has been in power for just over a year, is ahead of veterans like Mr Kagame (408,353 followers), who came to power in 2000, six years before Twitter was created.

And to show that it is not the population difference between Kenya and Rwanda that puts President Kenyatta ahead, South Africa’s Zuma, with 325,896 followers, comes a distant third.
But when it comes to engaging followers, Ugandan Prime Minister Amama Mbabazi (@AmamaMbabazi) is the most conversational world leader on Twitter.

OBAMA MOST FOLLOWED

Ninety five per cent of his tweets are @replies to other users, a global study of world leaders on Twitter, Twiplomacy, has revealed.

India’s new Prime Minister Narendra Modi (4,967,847 followers) is fast gaining on the White House (4,976,734 followers) at fifth position on the list of most followed world leaders.

More than 83 per cent of all United Nations governments have a presence on Twitter, and two-thirds (68 per cent) of all heads of state and government have personal Twitter accounts, says the study by Burson-Marsteller, a global communications firm based in New York.

The most followed world leaders are US President Barack Obama (@BarackObama) with 43 million followers on his campaign account, Pope Francis (@Pontifex) with 14 million and Indonesia’s President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono (@SBYudhoyono) with five million.

Barack Obama was the first world leader to sign up to Twitter on 5 March 2007 (as Senator Obama at the time) as user number 813,286.

VIRTUAL DIPLOMATIC NETWORK

Of the 643 government accounts analysed in 161 countries, only 32 countries, mainly in Africa and Asia-Pacific, do not have any Twitter presence.

The study also revealed that foreign ministers mostly use Twitter to establish mutual connections, creating a virtual diplomatic network.

French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius (@LaurentFabius) is the best-connected foreign minister, mutually connected to 91 peers and world leaders.

Burson-Marsteller is a leading global public relations and communications firm based in New York City. It provides clients with strategic thinking and program execution in public relations, public affairs, reputation and crisis management, among other areas.

The firm has a seamless worldwide network and operates in 112 countries across six continents.