Twitter has become more than just a way to connect with celebrities, brands, or politicians in Uganda. It’s also used by journalists to provide updates on breaking news and has become a way for us to understand the world around us. People from every country are tweeting every day and in the process, making our world a little smaller.
Twitter is still less popular in Uganda compared to other social media platforms like Facebook, but it has gained traction in the recent past. Those who use this social media platform seem to max it out to reach their preferred audience. Unlike Facebook, Twitter is not the place where you will put your vacation pictures, it is designed for that quick message to your followers let alone the DMs. In Uganda, different brands, celebrities, politicians and social influencers top the 25 most followed profiles. The stats have changed since we last did a similar ranking in 2016.
Museveni is way ahead of rest on Twitter
With 1.6 million followers, President Yoweri Museveni has the most popular twitter profile in Uganda. He has one of the fastest-growing profiles which lately soared due to his regular COVID-19 related TV appearances. The first son Muhoozi Kainerugaba is ranked as 24th with 209.4k followers.
24 percent of top profiles are dominated by Media houses — these are led by NTV Uganda, followed Daily Monitor, New Vision, NBS Television, Red Pepper Uganda, and Urban Television. The other politicians in the top ten include Dr. Kiiza Besigye, Amama Mbabazi, and Hon Robert Kyagulanyi aka Bobi Wine who also doubles as a celebrity. The biggest surprise on the celebrity list was the unverified account of NBS’s KatchUp presenter Douglas Lwanga with over 289.9k followers. Uganda’s number one YouTube sensation, Eddy Kenzo has his profile ranked 14th with 264.3k followers. Jose Chameleon and Shebah Kalungi’s profiles are part of other celebrities in the most followed twitter profiles in Uganda.
ALSO READ: Uganda’s top 25 YouTube channels and their estimated earnings- 2020
Telecom brands are led by MTN Uganda and Airtel with 283.1k and 225.9k followers, ranking at 14th and 19th respectively. Charles Onyango-Obbo leads the most followed media personalities — followed by Andrew Muwenda and BBC presenter Allan Kasujja ranking at 8th, 11th, and 15th, respectively.
Government Agencies have also come into the mix and this time round– top of the list is the Uganda Media Center followed by the Uganda Police Force and finally KCCA with 226.2k, 226k, and 208.7 followers respectively.
Check out the list below to find out the most popular Twitter profiles in Uganda and there is no doubt that most of them have had their profiles verified by the social media platform.
| Rank | Name | Twitter Handle | Followers (000) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Yoweri K Museveni | @KagutaMuseveni | 1,600 |
| 2 | NTV Uganda | @ntvuganda | 984 |
| 3 | Daily Monitor | @DailyMonitor | 750 |
| 4 | The New Vision | @newvisionwire | 637.4 |
| 5 | Bobi Wine | @HEBobiwine | 636.6 |
| 6 | NBS Television | @nbstv | 568.6 |
| 7 | Kifefe Kizza-Besigye | @kizzabesigye1 | 517.4 |
| 8 | Charles Onyango-Obbo | @cobbo3 | 419.7 |
| 9 | Red Pepper Uganda | @RedPepperUG | 363.9 |
| 10 | Amama Mbabazi | @AmamaMbabazi | 361.8 |
| 11 | Andrew M. Mwenda | @AndrewMwenda | 336 |
| 12 | Douglas Lwanga | @DouglasLwangaUg | 289.9 |
| 13 | MTN Uganda | @mtnug | 283.1 |
| 14 | Eddy Kenzo | @eddykenzoficial | 264.3 |
| 15 | Alan Kasujja | @kasujja | 248.2 |
| 16 | Jose Chameleone | @JChameleone | 243.4 |
| 17 | Urban Television | @UrbanTVUganda | 242.5 |
| 18 | Sheebah | @Ksheebah1 | 237.4 |
| 19 | Uganda Media Centre | @UgandaMediaCent | 226.2 |
| 20 | Uganda Police Force | @PoliceUg | 226 |
| 21 | Airtel Uganda | @Airtel_Ug | 225.9 |
| 22 | State House Uganda | @StateHouseUg | 224.6 |
| 23 | Winnie Byanyima | @Winnie_Byanyima | 214.4 |
| 24 | Muhoozi Kainerugaba | @mkainerugaba | 209.4 |
| 25 | #KCCAatWork | @KCCAUG | 208.7 |
If this list went beyond 25 top profiles we cant fail to mention Sheilah C Gashumba and Sheila Nduhukire who have 200.8k and 198.8k followers respectively. We are all human and we could have skipped some profiles, so if you think we felt out any profile in the above rankings, please leave us a comment below.
