Twitter lifts blogger Cyprian Nyakundi’s suspension

Firebrand blogger and free speech advocate Cyprian Nyakundi is back on Twitter.

This comes five years after the outspoken social critic was banished from the platform for allegedly violating its terms of service.

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The former management led by Twitter’s co-founder Jack Dorsey permanently suspended the account in July 2018 following a series of warnings.

By this time, his raw and authentic blogging approach had amassed him hundreds of thousands of followers.

As a result, his explosive opinions were seen and felt on more than one frontier.

His reports led media houses in the country to pursue and tell stories of human interest and defending human rights.

Netizens united in lobbying for the account to be unbanned, terming the decision as a major blow to the Kenyan online community and the media.

After multiple futile attempts to appeal his suspension, Nyakundi’s followers got a glimpse of hope in November 2022 when the new owner and CEO Elon Musk announced a general amnesty for suspended Twitter accounts.

“The people have spoken. Amnesty begins next week. Vox Populi, Vox Dei,” Musk tweeted using a Latin phrase meaning “the voice of the people, the voice of God.”

Some of those allowed back included former U.S. President Donald Trump, Former national security advisor Michael Flynn, kickboxer Andrew Tate, among many others.

Prior to its suspension, Nyakundi’s Twitter account always functioned hand in hand with hard-hitting articles on his blog as well as his Facebook and Telegram channel.

His powerful community was spread across the internet.

His feud with Safaricom was one of the very first controversies that brought him into the true limelight.

The company’s former CEO, the late Bob Collymore, sued him for defamation and forced him to take down multiple high-voltage posts.

Nyakundi had started a 15-part series ‘How Safaricom steals from Kenyans with third parties’, which described how the teleco was obtaining money and profits in form of airtime from its subscribers through non-existent subscriptions.

In 2015, Nyakundi serialized evils at Bidco’s, including their alleged land grab in Uganda’s Kalangala area and mistreatment of farmers in the same region.

Bidco Oil Refineries later served him with a lawsuit.

In 2016, Nyakundi’s National Bank expose played a crucial role in the exposure of malpractice at the financial institution.

He was never afraid of facing off with the big fish in court.

In May 2018, he published blog posts exposing corruption in a case where the government paid sh1.5 billion for the acquisition of its own land in Ruaraka.

He unmasked former Interior CS Dr. Matiangi, former Attorney General Prof. Githu Muigai and National Land Commission Chairman Dr. Mohammed Swazuri as beneficiaries of kickbacks in hundreds of millions.

Aside from exposing corporate crooks, fighting against poor leadership and oppression, the blogger also delivered takes on sensitive topics such as exploitative women who use men as sponsors and the neglect of the boy child in Kenya.

This birthed the “Boy Child” online campaign, with the mission of highlighting problems facing the male gender in Kenya and challenging the societal norms to start raising boys and young men who have strong conservative values.

Speaking on returning to the platform, Nyakundi expressed great delight and thanked Elon Musk for offering him amnesty.

“It has been almost 5 years since you saw a post from this account. How has been the going?” he tweeted on Thursday.

Adding: “Thanks Elon Musk and team for the Amnesty”.