Khalwale loses his Twitter account to ‘son’ in rare case of identity theft
Bull fighter Senator Boni Khalwale seems to have finally found his match.
The Kakamega Senator’s official Twitter account has been taken over by the person he had entrusted to manage it. And that is not all. The man, Leon Lidigu, has also changed the username.
Politicians and business moguls in Kenya generally prefer to hire associates to manage their presence on social media, only rarely sending out tweets and photos by themselves.
Mr Lidigu had managed the Senator’s account as it garnered 75, 000 followers. He has now changed the username to @AKenyanJourno.
NEW ACCOUNT
Senators Khalwale’s acrimonious experience with his Twitter manager found its way on social media after he was forced to create a new account and urge Kenyans to follow him afresh.
He claimed that his previous account had been hacked.
Some of his Twitter followers however, who seemed to have the insider details, questioned the explanation and said his ‘son’ had stopped managing the account.
Mr Lidigu had previously posed as Senator Khalwale’s son on Twitter, severally using the Senator’s account to his send himself congratulatory messages like “Proud of you son @LeonLidigu.”
Though many had suspected that the bull-fighter had hired someone to manage his Twitter account, he often rubbished the claims when asked in public, asserting that he manages his own account.
On Tuesday, Senator Khalwale owned up to the disagreement with his erstwhile Twitter manager. His new account now has only 350 followers.
“@IkeOjuok @Asamoh_ Tell that Boy to give me my Twitter Account. He doesn’t appreciate what I have done for him,” he tweeted.
One user @Asamoh_ replied, “I thought Leon was your son. Hahahahaha @jayonguko.”
IDENTITY CRISIS
Mr Khalwale went on to deny any relations with Mr Lidigu, tweeting; “@Asamoh_ @IkeOjuok The young man is undergoing an identity crisis. Don’t associate him with my family.”
Mr Lidigu, through his personal account @LeonLidiguNews, claimed that though he had opened Mr Khalwale’s Twitter account, he had since reclaimed it.
“Let it be clear that i want nothing to do with Khalwale. He cannot pupport that my 2 twitter handles are his,” he said.
Relations between Senators Khalwale and Mr Lidigu started going south after the latter got arrested on June 18 and his laptop and phone confiscated.
He was released after the “complainant dropped charges” and the day after he denied being Senator Khwalwe’s son.
“Morning tweeps. Y’all should stop calling me, @BoniMtetezi s son. He is my grand dad, i think i have to be clear on this one! Naona mmezoea,” he tweeted.
Mr Lidigu then started a campaign (followers trail) to win followers on his personal account and soon after the Senator’s account became inactive.
It reappeared with the username @AKenyanJourno but with previous tweets missing.