Zimbabwe tourism tweet riles Kenyans

The internet is causing quite a stir in Zimbabwe. Sunday Mail editor Edmund Kudzayi was arrested last week and appears in court tomorrow on charges of insurgency including being behind the facebook character Baba Jukwa which caused a stir in the run-up to the 2013 elections. Now focus has shifted to the other major social platform, twitter. A tweet allegedly from the ruling Zimbabwe African National Union-Patriotic Front says: “It is very sad that it is no longer safe to go on holiday 2Kenya. While they fix their problems – consider visiting Zimbabwe the paradise.” There have been several attacks in Kenya allegedly by Al Shabaab in recent days. The tweet sparked a number of responses and was retweeted several times. It was posted on 17 June, nearly two weeks after President Robert Mugabe was awarded the Best Tourism Destination awarded by the European Council on Tourism and Trade. It is not clear whether the twitter handled @zanu_pf is the official handle of the ruling party because there are several handles with the name zanu-pf, but reports say whether official or not, Kenyan authorities are riled by the tweet. An unnamed source is quoted as saying: “You cannot be entirely sure who this twitter account belongs to but from an initial look it can well be official. If it is the tweets about Kenya are unacceptable and if it is not an official account, like a parody account, it still is not ok to make such comments about our country. We supported Zimbabwe when they were the Western world’s outcasts and would expect no less now that Kenya is going through a tough period. We shall get to the bottom of this and will act according to verified findings.” Zimbabwe is hosting the 9th Routes Africa, which begins in Victoria Falls today.

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