In Kenya, freedom of speech is mostly exercised when you’re either in another country like Miguna or you might just end up in a coffin. Edgar Obare is popularly known for keeping celebrities on their toes as his loyal fanbase constantly gives him updates of whatever is happening on the ground. His brand has touched on almost every celebrity in Kenya and while Kenyans are not the most enthusiastic fans physically, they tend to be quite supportive as keyboard warriors. Recently Edgar touched a raw nerve and crossed a bridge that not many would dare to even look at. He posted a number of both Kenyan and African men who have been accused of “Wash Wash” which is a term that refers to individuals who earn money through illegal activities and later use unscrupulous means to “clean” the money. Of course, the accused were not sat somewhere clinking their glasses of scotch whiskey, someone was definitely upset about it. The tea master is in danger. Edgar’s account was deactivated on Instagram and soon after that activist Boniface Mwangi posted a video about it and this left his fans worried. It’s almost been a week and the tea master’s account is still inactive but as he works to restore it he’s currently using his entertainment account known as BNN. Who deactivated the account? According to Edgar, his account was deactivated by the Instagram management but as he plans to have his account restored he asked his fans if there were other alternatives that would be as interactive as Instagram. “My Main account has been deactivated, working to get it restored. Meanwhile, we already prepared for such outcomes and I can also be posting here” said Obare via his BNN Instagram account. The number of fake Edgar Obare accounts increased. Of course, the first thing that people did after realizing that Edgar’s account was nowhere to be found was to search for him, myself included. There are a number of Obare’s fake accounts and surprisingly a lot of them actually have a healthy amount of followers. This shows you just how much influence this man has, most young Kenyan people actually rely on him as a source of entertainment and real-time information. Disabled Instagram accounts Instagram doesn’t provide precise guidance for why accounts are disabled, but it does say that it results from violating community guidelines or terms of use. Even after Edgar restores his account or joins a new platform, will he be safe? The number of people that he exposed are directly in links with the big boys in government, so what should be his next move? Over the weekend, Obare listed a number of names believed to be in Wash Wash Business, igniting an endless discussion on Twitter.
