Just a day after announcing his stance on the contentious Finance Bill 2024, Kenyan media personality and CEO Eddie Butita’s official YouTube Channel is off the internet, raising eyebrows over the sudden disappearance.
The channel which boasts 355,000 subscribers was mysteriously removed on YouTube on Monday, June 24, after Butita made an announcement rejecting the Finance Bill following immense pressure to declare his position from netizens. READ FULL STORY
Butita had faced backlash from Kenyans following his ambiguous stance on the unpopular bill, leading to speculation about his government affiliations.
After the channel’s disappearance, online discussions have emerged, with a section of netizens opining that the comedian is behind the unexplained vanishing, to mitigate the haemorrhaging of subscribers who are boycotting the media personality and his products.
“Eddie Butita youtube channel disappears, tunajua ameideactivate ndo watu waache kuunsubscribe,” Mr Right KE proposed.
“So Butita has disabled his YouTube account to avoid people unsubscribing. Someone tell him that when he comes back tunaanza upya,”another user expressed.
Other internet dwellers stated that it could be a form of cyber attack on the ‘A Nurse Toto’ creator, as punishment for his bad timing in making a stance, while others stated that it was a distraction to divert people’s focus on the matter at hand.
“Eddie Butita’s YouTube channel down! Betray Kenyans at your own risk,” one user stated.
“Butita account sasa inatoka aje kwa simu.. eti imechukuliwa!!!!Wanadivert attention… please stay focus on the agenda,” Blinker urged.
Butita had come under fire from X’s bigwig Amerix, who asked him to use his YouTube channel to denounce the Finance Bill and educate his followers, given that the platform had massive reach.
“BUTITA, I am talking to you. The future of your creative works is in your audience.
Listen to your audience. Don’t explain. Go to YouTube and create a 10-minute promo that rejects the Finance Bill. That is what artists do. I am not begging you. CHANGE or PERISH.” Amerix posted.
The pressure on Butita prompted his friends to come to his aid, with fellow actor and media personality Abel Mutual making a post defending his friend’s timing and welcoming him to the protests.
“On Tuesday, we will be one soldier heavier. Welcome to the streets @eddiebutita. Your mistake wasn’t joining the government. For change to happen, we need to influence from within. Delaying the rejection swayed the public, but We are good now. See you Tuesday.” Mutual captioned the post where he posed for a photo clad in a T-shirt saying Butita si Mubaya.
His company’s YouTube channel SPMBuzz with 200,000 subscribers is still up and running.