On 20 November 2018, former Kakamega Senator Boni Khalwale went online to celebrate his daughter’s Kenya Certificate of Primary Education (KCPE) results after the national announcement in Mombasa on Monday.
Khalwale said his daughter had scored 359 marks out of 500 and credited prayers and the teachers at Malinya Primary School for the outcome. In his post, he wrote: “My dota has just made us proud by her success at the #KCPE2018. My wives en I owe it to prayers & the teachers of Malinya Pr School. Congratulations my Oliviorii,”
The former senator’s message quickly became a target for Kenyans on Twitter, who focused less on the result and more on his spelling and phrasing. Some users mocked the use of “dota” instead of daughter, while others questioned why he was publicly celebrating academic results again.
One user, Eng. Felix Kikwai @EngKikwai, wrote: “Unatuangusha Bonny, kuna sis wangu amepata 395 in a public school na sijakuja Twitter kusumbua watu.” Another, molly @MollyOdhiambo1, asked: “Every year you proud of a kcse result from one of your children… how many more are we expecting??”
Aburi Nicholas @nicsaburi also commented: “When you talk about academics at least use correct grammar… Its daughter not dota,” while Peter Okong’o @peterokongo added: “She needs to teach you not to spell English in mother tongue. Eti ‘dota’. Wololo!!”
The episode marked the second time the outspoken politician had publicly celebrated a child’s strong performance in the Kenya Certificate of Primary Education.
