FAITH KIPYEGON, WINNIE ODINGA & EDWARD KWACH AMONG THE MOST SEARCHED KENYAN PERSONALITIES ON GOOGLE

Google shared its Year in Search 2025 list for Kenya, showing what Kenyans were looking up online over the last year.The trending searches tell a story of a country focused on politics, sports, culture and finding answers to big questions.

Every year, Google’s Year in Search shows the topics, people, and questions that became most popular on the search engine, giving a snapshot of the country’s interests. Kenya’s search trends were heavily shaped by politics. Former Prime Minister Raila Odinga was the most searched Kenyan public figure and a top news topic. Interest in him was so high that many people also searched for the phrase enigma meaning, a word often linked to his long political career. 

The debate around the Social Health Authority (SHA) also stayed high on the list as Kenyans looked for information on the new healthcare plan. Sports brought the country together online. The African Nations Championship (CHAN) was the top-searched news story of 2025, showing Kenya’s great passion for football. 

In athletics, world champion runner Faith Kipyegon was the most searched sports personality, confirming her status as a national hero. Kenyans also followed international football closely, searching for stars like Slovenia’s Benjamin Šeško and remembering Portuguese player Diogo Jota, who passed away this year.

In 2025, Kenyans turned to Google to make sense of local and world events. Major global religious news led to searches for terms like conclave, habemus, and papam, along with Who is the new pope?.

The question Who is Charlie Kirk? showed Kenyans are curious about global political voices. Locally, people looked up the meanings of words like jowi, kubant, saba saba, demure, and wantam, highlighting changing slang and cultural talks. Many also searched What is happening in Sudan? and What is happening in Congo?, showing a strong interest in African current affairs.

In the kitchen, Kenyans searched for both healthy and comforting recipes. Ginger shots recipe led the food searches as people embraced home wellness. Popular comfort foods included chocolate chip cookies, cinnamon rolls, dawa, mini pizzas, and the Italian dish osso buco, showing a love for both health trends and tasty home cooking.

Music searches revealed a mix of old and new favourites. The most searched lyrics were for the classic song Jamaica Farewell by Harry Belafonte. This was followed by modern hits like Kendrick Lamar’s Not Like Us. Other top songs included Taya by Okello Max, Bien’s All My Enemies Are Suffering, and popular regional tracks like Mbosso’s Pawa and Toxic Lyrikali’s Backbencher, painting a vivid picture of Kenya’s 2025 soundtrack.