Report Ranks Jalang'o, Janet Machuka Among 21 Top Kenyan Influencers [LIST]

Lang'ata Member of Parliament Phelix Odiwuor alias Jalang'o and renowned digital marketing specialist, Janet Machuka on Monday, May 29 featured among an ensemble line-up of top influencers followed by millennials and Gen Zs in Kenya.

They were featured in a report by the Aga Khan University's Graduate School of Media and Communications from a study on media consumption by millennials and digital natives titled Media Consumption In An Evolving Digital World: Millennials And Digital Natives’ Consumption Habits And Implications For Legacy Media In East Africa.

The list also included popular entertainers such as Churchill, Eric Omondi, Akothee, Edgar Obare and Betty Kyallo among others.

Side by-side image of Churchill and Eric Omondi. /VIRALTEAKE

"Nine in every 10 (93%) of the surveyed millennials and Gen Zs believe that the influencers they follow influence them. Of these, 27% mentioned Jalango, another 24% mentioned Daniel Ndambuki (Churchill) whereas 22% mentioned Eric Omondi as their top influencers," stated the report in part.

In terms of region, the survey found that the surveyed millennials and Gen Zs who follow Jalang'o are mostly from Nyanza (36%) and Eastern (34%); Daniel Ndambuki (Churchill) followers are mostly from Central (42%) and Coast (26%) whereas Eric Omondi's followers are mostly from North Eastern (30%) and Coast (29%).

Also included were Interior Chief Administrative Secretary (CAS) Dennis Itumbi, Kileleshwa MCA Robert Alai, controversial blogger Edgar Obare, and celebrity couple Bahati and Diana Marua, among others.

Full list:

1. Jalango 27%
2. Daniel Churchill 24%
3. Eric Omondi 22%
4. Akothee Kenya 21%
5. Edgar Obare 19%
6. Betty Kyallo 19%
7. Kamene Goro 15%
8. Njugush 15%
9. Sauti Sol 13%
10. Tanasha Donna 13%
11. Diana Bahati 13%
12. Robert Alai 13%
13. Bahati 12%
14. Xtiandela 11%
15. Willy Paul 10%
16. Nyakundi 9%
17. Dennis Itumbi 7%
18. Martin Gicheru 7%
19. Walter Akolo 5%
20. Janet Machuka 5%
21. Dikembe Disembe 4%
22. Others 18%

The findings also revealed that sentiments from the surveyed youth during the qualitative phase indicate that influencers have an impact on the decisions made by most of the youth on what media content to buy and/or consume.

"Majority of the youth get inspired by influencers, who based on their lifestyles and their different roles as brand ambassadors end up influencing the decisions made by the youth beyond the media they consume. Influencers are also considered role models and they create awareness about brands through their various platforms," added the report.

Jalang'o is a comedian and media personality with an established media career, known for stints at Kiss FM as a morning show host alongside her former colleague, Kamene Goro, as well as across social media platforms and through Jalang'o TV, his YouTube channel.

The channel is considered one of the most popular in the country, which was coined from his taking advantage of the COVID-19 lockdown to entertain his audience, most of whom were working from home.

In February 2022, he resigned from Kiss FM to vie for the Lang'ata parliamentary seat during the August 2022 elections, which he won.

Machuka, a journalist turned social media marketer, founded a thriving digital marketing community - the Africa Tweet Chat Academy and is a leading authority on helping businesses through their digital transformation of sales and marketing through consulting, training, and helping enterprises large and small develop and execute on various digital marketing platforms.

ATC Academy was born out of a Twitter community chat, #AfricaTweetChat and she helps brands with social media marketing, content creation, development of strategies, influencer marketing and digital marketing training. Twitter users love her so much, some took to call her “African Digital Bae”.

A digital influencer during a past video shoot. /FILE

On June 10, 2022, she was named alongside content marketing specialist, Jean Wandimi as among the top 100 content marketing influencers and experts to follow in 2022 by Semrush, one of the leading content marketing and research firms in the world.

Viral Tea on December 26, 2022, ranked her among little-known Kenyans who went viral across social media platforms in that year alongside Liz Jackson, Eric Njiru, Beth Kasinga, Abubakr Abbass (Metro Guy), Jacob Ailet and Edgar Wabwire.