The former Prime Minister Raila Odinga dominated Kenya’s search story in 2025.
Raila led the trending Kenyan public figures list and surfaced prominently in news-related searches.
This is revealed in the latest annual analysis, 'A year in Kenyan Search: Google's trending searches of 2025', released on Thursday.
"His influence was so pronounced that Kenyans also searched widely for “enigma meaning,” a term that has long been associated with his political persona," the report says.
Raila passed away on November 15 at the age of 80, while undergoing treatment at a hospital in India.
Former Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) Chairperson Wafula Chebukati also featured in the Google list of most searched personalities in 2025.
Chebukati died on February 21, 2025, at the age of 64.
The former IEBC boss had been admitted to a hospital in Nairobi where he had been undergoing treatment for nearly a week.
According to the analysis, Liverpool's player Diogo Jota comes as the second most searched person in 2025.
The 28-year-old passed away in July following a road traffic accident in Spain along with his brother, Andre Silva.
Another widely searched dead personality includes teacher Albert Ojwang.
Ojwang died under mysterious circumstances in Nairobi’s Central Police Station on June 8.
He had been arrested in Homa Bay over what authorities described as a "derogatory" post on X.
Police claimed he died by suicide after allegedly injuring himself while alone in a cell.
The autopsy report, however, dismissed the claims after showing that the deceased had been strangled.
This sparked protests and demands for action on those responsible for the same.
Pope Francis, who died on Easter Monday, April 21, 2025, at the age of 88, was also among the top 10 Google searches.
City lawyer Mathew Kyalo Mbobu, who was shot eight times on September 9, was also widely searched by Kenyans on Google.
Mbobu was shot in a drive-by attack on Lang'ata Road in Nairobi.
According to investigators, the gunman and his rider trailed Mbobu’s four-wheel-drive vehicle from the Galleria Mall.
Others on the search include journalist Kimani Mbugua, author Ngugi wa Thiong'o, American right-wing political activist Charlie Kirk and American professional wrestler Hulk Hogan.
