Chief Francis Kariuki, the globally recognised "Tweeting chief" was able to save a family from a blaze of fire in Nakuru on Tuesday.
Mr Kariuki sent a tweet to his over 64,000 followers stating that: "Kwa kihanda nyumbani kuna moto kubwa sana majirani saidieni tafadhali. Pale karibu Umoja 2 (There’s a big fire at Kihanda’s home, neighbours please help. It’s at Umoja 2)."
Kariuki, who hails from Lanet Umoja, Nakuru, has had his residents subscribe to his tweets through a free text messaging service, hence were able to jump into action just in time and saved the family.
In as much as the tweet received just six retweets, the SMS service proved to be a lifesaver.
A member of the family by the name Njoki tweeted appreciating the chief and everyone who helped her kin.
“This tweet saved my family. We are all safe and I can’t believe how everyone came out to help. Thank you so much for your big hearts. I have no words. Thank you,” she posed.
Kariuki’s community of 30,000 is largely rural and internet connectivity is almost nonexistent and many are not users of Twitter, but through the free text messaging service, they are aware of any information that he shares with the world.
Chief Kariuki mentions of his social media exploits on Twitter stating: "I am using Twitter as a tool for community policing, neighborhood watch and crime-reporting activities."
He is known for embracing technology when most of his peers think social media is a waste of time or have no idea about its vast usefulness.
[caption caption="Chief Francis Kariuki"]
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Most of his tweets are about lost cattle, lost and found IDs, job vacancies in local schools and Bible verses. He rarely engages with his followers but many understand his platform is a different one.
