Could the PM have ‘robbed’ the institutional twitter handle of followers?

A new twitter account designated as the official handle of the Office of the PM was hived out from the existing account.

Could the build up to the 2020 elections be taking shape within the office of the Prime Minister or the new communications office is institutionalizing public communications at the PM’s office?

Between August and September, social media accounts attributed to the PM have been changed partly to distinguish the office and the office holder while in other instances personalize some institutional accounts.

The PM’s Facebook page also changed name in September

On twitter, the Office of the Prime Minister handle which was inherited by PM Hassan Khaire from the previous office holders has seen some descriptions change while a new account has also been created. The @SomaliPM now reads: Official twitter account run by the 19^th Prime Minister of Somalia His Excellency Hassan Khaire. Previously, it ran with the profile description: Official Twitter account of the Prime Minister of Somalia His Excellency Hassan Khaire.

The institutional twitter handle of the Prime Minister of Somalia is now designated as @SomaliaOpm. The account created in August this year has only 620 followers at the time of going to press. Despite having had a following of 255K since its creation in 2013, the institutional account has now been ‘robbed’ of thousands of followers.

A similar purge has been extended to Facebook. In early September, an account, Somalia PM Hassan Ali Khaire changed name to Hassan Khaire.

The official @SomaliPM inherited from previous office holders is now operating as the PM’s twitter handle

The changes have now seen the PM get enhanced media visibility in light of political positioning ahead of the 2020 elections with social media expected to play an even pronounced role.

Deputy PM Mahdi Guled announced July a ‘grand’ party was on the works led by President Mohamed Farmaajo. With both Farmaajoa and Khaire harbouring ambitions of contesting for presidency in 2020, the political temperatures in Villa Somalia will be hitting the crescendo in the coming months.