Kenya is in a celebratory mood. For the first time in the nation’s history, its rugby team, commonly referred to as “Shujaa” which means hero in Swahili, has won the main cup of the International Rugby Board’s HSBC World Series. Naturally, Kenya being a tweeting nation, it was Twitter that Kenyans turned to. And it was spectacular.
Here are some interesting tweets showing the emotion, confusion, joy and celebrations that accompanied the momentous occasion.
When Kenya won 30-7 we all felt like
#Kenya7s win the first ever main cup 7s series … Super stuff . Proud moment for Kenya🇰🇪 pic.twitter.com/1mk8JOiSvl
— Joy Doreen BIIRA (@JoyDoreenBiira) April 17, 2016
And celebrated like
#Kenya7s Mood right now 🇰🇪🇰🇪pic.twitter.com/W74eVtxJRq
— Fahad (@fuwadii) April 17, 2016
Congrats #Kenya7s pic.twitter.com/CZLWf0kRqB
— Y J (@jaykashed) April 17, 2016
Mood #Kenya7s pic.twitter.com/XjNfzBL8pT
— Dee (@Dee_spicable) April 17, 2016
https://twitter.com/kibratula/status/721702087780917248?s=09
Some of us were either not so sure who the sponsors of the IRB World Series are and ended up confusing them with Kenya’s electoral body, the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) or were too excited to confuse the IEBC with HSBC. Well, they both have BC, don’t they?
Some could not differentiate between points and tries in rugby. Never mind that they were the ones broadcasting the game locally
Some, in the race to stay relevant, thought Kenya had won the rugby World Cup
Some could not remember the coach’s name – things winning does to you
https://twitter.com/_nARISHa_/status/721691363545362432
Others got carried away
Si walete Barcelona na Real Madrid. Hata Bayern tutawachapa #Kenya7s
— Brian Mbunde ™ (@Brianmbunde) April 17, 2016
Some saw South Africa’s hand in the way SuperSport experienced an outage just when medals were being awarded to the Kenyan team hence leading to viewers missing the one part they had waited for in 142 World Series tournaments to see. (As a result, ‘South Africans’ was trending in Kenya right after #Kenya7s which was trending both in Kenya and worldwide)
Walichange channel dstv kenya ikienda kuchukua cup #Kenya7s https://t.co/zt0UR1NGLl
— 🔴 Paul Muthui 🔴 (@MrMuthui) April 17, 2016
Lmao. South Africans wamezima SuperSport #Kenya7s
— Brian Mbunde ™ (@Brianmbunde) April 17, 2016
So they threw shade at the South Africans
https://twitter.com/Kiremavinni/status/721701766803365889?s=09
As others threw shade at a common suspect, Arsenal Football Club…
I was alive when Kenya won a main cup before Arsenal 😭
— Tea Bag (@PatOski_) April 17, 2016
…and Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS)
KWS don't hunt this lion. Congratulations #ke https://t.co/vreH6p6B35
— wisdom Industry (@gayahg) April 17, 2016
Wanyama doing us proud in rugby, wanyama doing us proud in southampton, meanwhile KWS to our wanyamas #Kenya7s pic.twitter.com/zSBpqDZ5cW
— Verified (@njiiru) April 17, 2016
Some demanded a holiday from the government in the most flowery language ever – clearly people hate Mondays
Holiday tomorrow @UKenyatta @PresidentKE. It's the right thing. It's the only thing
— 🤷🏾♂️ (@sickolia_) April 17, 2016
And he granted it…
And so tomorrow is an holiday courtesy of #Kenya7s? We will always remember you!!! pic.twitter.com/bL4Olia7Dy
— Kiplangat Allan, GE (@EngKiruiAllan) April 17, 2016
…Sort of
The President joined in the celebrations on Twitter
https://twitter.com/UKenyatta/status/721674896972083200
As did other “woke” Kenyans on Twitter
Now deliver at your end and build us a stadium https://t.co/oPMUlmnO4S
— #RugbyKenya (@RugbyKEN_) April 17, 2016
But at the end of the day, we all agree with what is written on this shirt. It’s in the holy books, look it up!
Kwisha #Kenya7s. Well done pic.twitter.com/vP55kFBVfK
— Mohamed Wehliye, MBS (@WehliyeMohamed) April 17, 2016
Lastly, in the words of Babu Owino,
https://twitter.com/Trackmann/status/721672327524696064