Sharon Otieno’s murder case attracts most Google searches in 2018

Mourners during Sharon Otieno burial at Magare village in Homa bay county on October 19th 2018. [Photo: Collins Oduor, Standard].

What would be your first port of call for information? Many would say Google. And if this is in an indicator of the things Kenyans were most curious about for 2018, then the Sharon Otieno murder intrigue was an eye-puller.

When Google released their top trending searches for the year on Monday (December 10), Sharon Otieno was the top trending personality and the second most searched topic/name, just behind the World Cup 2018.

The Rongo University Student's murder kept the country glued to their TV screens, and clearly online. Okoth Obado, the Migori Governor charged in connection with Sharon's death was the sixth most searched personality. In between them came Miguna Miguna (during the deportation incident at Jomo Kenyatta International Airport in March 2018), Jackie Maribe, Babu Owino and Kanze Dena.

Miguna Miguna in this picture he released to media houses on Monday April 2, 2018, showing him in a hospital believed to be in Toronto. His friction with police also made it to top most searched incidents. [File, Standard]

Another crime incident that made it to the top of Kenya's search habits was that of Monica Kimani. She was the ninth most searched personality, just behind the Kirinyaga Deputy Governor who found himself in the middle of what was claimed to be a heady mix of a love triangle and blackmail.

Not to be outdone, the Kenya revenue Authority's drive saw many want to know how to go about filing returns. Ironically, the top trending 'How To' search was 'How To File Nil returns'. 'How to File KRA Returns' was the fifth most popular, one step ahead of 'How to get Pregnant'.

Jackie Maribe and Joseph Iriungu in the dock at a Milimani court during the mention of his murder case. Jacque Maribe and her fiance Joseph Irungu also made it to 2018 top most searched incidents after being arrested as suspects in Monica Kimani murder. [Photo: George Njunge / Standard]

And in probably an indictment of the sex education in our schools, 'What is Sex' was the fourth top 'What is' search. It came in behind “What is lunar eclipse? What is Samantha? What is the Blue Economy?”

Samantha, evidently made an impression on Kenyans. Remember the sex doll that had the world go ga-ga? Samantha was Kenya's sixth top trending search and second on the 'What is' list.

And just at the turn of the year, Raila Odinga's 'swearing in', was a hot favourite, coming in second on the list of Top Trending Events, only beaten by World Cup 2018.

The Lunar Eclipse was the third most searched event, followed by the 78-day lecturers’ strike. In fifth place was Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s royal wedding. Kenyans also went online to find out about the KDF recruitment, followed by the Winter Olympics 2018, which came in seventh place.

The Migori by-election was the eighth most searched event followed by the polls in Zimbabwe. The general election in Zimbabwe was held on 30 July 2018, eight months after the coup d’etat that unseated Robert Mugabe’s rule in the nation.