This analysis examines the response on social media of President Uhuru Kenyatta’s final State of the Nation Address before the general election in August 2017. Most of the 4,031 social media posts we examined were trivial, though looking at five key themes reveals more nuanced findings. Kenyan media outlets largely amplified President Kenyatta’s key messages on March 15, 2017 while citizen engagement was low. Surprisingly, we found few government or opposition influencers echoing messages from their respective camps. Interest in the address largely abated the day after it was delivered.

1. Social Media
Analysis of
President Kenyatta’s
State of the Nation
Address
March 24, 2017

2. Key Findings
• An Al-Jazeera tweet announcing President Kenyatta’s address
had the highest number of impressions, 3.7 million, and was
widely shared and liked.
• Kenyan media outlets overwhelmingly amplified the president’s
messages by posting key quotes during the address. They did
not provide any live commentary and rarely posted critical
comments which were made during subsequent panel
discussions.
• Radio stations predominately used social media to warn people
about heightened security around parliament on March 15.
• Citizen participation on social media was very low and mainly
involved negative comments.
• Not many government or opposition influencers echoed
messages from their respective camps.
• Conversation volumes ebbed dramatically the following day.
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Noah W. Miller
Managing Director
2
President Uhuru Kenyatta gave a State of the Nation Address on March 15,
2017. Most of the social media posts about the address were trivial, but we
analyzed five key themes for more nuanced findings.
Findings

3. Methodology
• #sotn2017, #sotnke, #sonake2017,
#stateofthenation,
#stateofthenationisstrong and
#stateofthelies.
• The posts were made overwhelmingly
on Twitter.
• They generated 462 million
impressions and reached 34.3 million
users.
• On March 16, the number of relevant
posts dropped to 428.
• We examined five themes that were
highlighted in the speech and were
fact-checked by the Daily Nation and
AfricaCheck.
3 3
Sample
We analyzed 4,031 social media posts made between March 13-19, 2017. They
were tagged with hashtags related to the State of the Nation Address.

4. Devolution
• Both the Daily Nation and AfricaCheck
agreed that the facts given on
devolution were correct.
• On a positive note, the People Daily often
posted about Wajir getting its first
tarmac road. Other posts mentioned
accomplishments such as the Huduma
Centres, improved street lighting and
county headquarters getting a fiber optic
connection.
• Conversely, a negative post by
@RolandEbole criticizing the low amount
of road construction around Kenya was
frequently reposted across various
themes.
34%
61%
5%
Tone
Nega9ve
Neutral
Posi9ve
4 4
Devolution
295 posts had economy as a keyword: 101 negative, 179 neutral and 15
positive. They generated 51.3 million impressions and reached 3.76 million.

5. Sample Posts
5 5
Posts

6. Infrastructure
• A negative tweet by @RolandEbole
commenting on the lower than promised
kilometers of road construction. It had the
highest virality and was reposted 127
times.
• There were 23 posts from media houses
led by K24. Most focused on the
construction of the first paved road in Wajir
county and China’s partnership in
infrastructure.
• All positive posts came from media
houses (People Daily had four alone).
6 6
Infrastructure
120 posts had economy as a keyword: 78 negative, 32 neutral and 10
positive. They generated 11.4 million impressions and reached 0.8 million.
65%
27%
8%
Tone
Nega9ve
Neutral
Posi9ve

7. Sample Posts
7 7
Posts

8. Economy
• 30 posts were made by Citizen TV, KTN,
NTV, The Standard, People Daily and
Tupo News.
• Media outlets frequently quoted the
president’s claim about the economy
being robust.
• Of the 17 negative posts, none were made
by media houses but by individuals. They
mainly commented on the rising cost of
basic goods.
8 8
Economy
76 posts had economy as a keyword: 17 negative, 48 neutral and 11 positive.
They generated 16.2 million impressions and reached 1.21 million.
22%
63%
15%
Tone
Nega9ve
Neutral
Posi9ve

9. Sample Posts
9 9
Posts

10. Police
• Many radio stations commented on police
tightening security near parliament
though they did not comment on the
president’s speech directly.
• NTV announced before the address that
security would be a highlight. The
president’s claim that the number of police
officers surpasses a UN recommendation
was indeed widely mentioned. However,
both the Daily Nation and AfricaCheck
agreed that the facts presented about
the police were false.
• Both Citizen TV and NTV featured a post
where a commentator on their show
voiced critical remarks. These posts
garnered nearly 6 million impressions. 10 10
Police
56 posts mentioned the word corruption: 2 negative, 48 neutral and 6
positive. They generated 15.2 million impressions and reached 1.1 million.
3%
86%
11%
Tone
Nega9ve
Neutral
Posi9ve

11. Sample Posts
11 11
Posts

12. Corruption
• There was not a single negative post
about corruption from a media outlet.
• The Star and Kenyan News falsely
reported the recovery of Sh. 30 billion
from graft though the figure mentioned in
the president’s speech was Sh. 3 billion.
• There were 5 reposts from a People Daily
post saying “President Kenyatta: There is
no corruption worse than that is
directed to our youth. #SOTN2017.”
12 12
Corruption
52 posts mentioned the word corruption: 15 negative, 37 neutral and 0
positive. They generated 9.3 million impressions and reached 0.7 million.
29%
71%
Tone
Nega9ve
Neutral

13. Sample Posts
13 13
Posts

14. Themes and Queries
14
Devolu'on
Infrastructure
Economy
Police
Corrup'on
Keywords • Devolu9on
• Revenues
• Coun9es
• Huduma,
• Services
• Service delivery
• Public service
• Financial year
• Devolved
system
• Development
• Garissa, Lamu,
Wajir, Turkana,
Narok, Uasin
Gishu
• County
government
• Infrastructure
• SGR
• Railway
• Roads
• Road
construc9on
• Economy
• Economic growth
• 5.9 per cent
• 5.9%
• Gross domes9c
product
• Police
• Internal security
• Corrup9on
• Economic crimes
• An9-corrup9on
• 3 billion shillings
• Honest exams
# of Posts • 295 • 120
• 76 • 56 • 52
Impressions in
million
• 51.3 • 11.4
• 16.2 • 15.2 • 9.3
Reach in million • 3.76 • 0.8
• 1.21 • 1.1 • 0.7
Queries

15. Our Media Intelligence Tool
• We use a media intelligence platform called
Radarly, which has been top ranked by
Goldbach, reviewed by Gartner, and named
a high performer by G2 crowd users.
• Radarly is a leading solution for real-time
social media listening, analysis, influencer
identification, engagement and reporting.
• The tool allows us to perform benchmark
analyses, investigate keywords or discussion
topics, conduct reputation management,
monitor and engage with influencers, and
asses the impact of campaigns, amongst
others.
15
Radarly

16. CONTACT
Sochin Limited
Noah W. Miller, Managing Director
NMiller@sochin.agency
0721.403.574
www.sochin.agency
Marula Manor
Marula Lane
Karen, Nairobi
16
Contact