How a women’s boxing bout left Kenyans turning Zambians into zombies

Many African countries have developed rivalries over the most frivolous things and the age-old banter has found its way on social media. One inescapable rivalry which has played out successfully on Twitter especially is the Jollof Wars between Ghana and Nigeria over who prepares the best West African rice delicacy.

This time around, the rivalry between Kenya and Zambia was sparked by a World Boxing Council (WBC) Super Bantamweight weight title bout between Kenya’s Fatuma Zarika and Catherine Phiri of Zambia last Saturday.

The two countries clamoured for bragging rights ahead of the bout and Zambians were utterly disappointed by Kenya’s Fatuma Zarika’s unanimous victory that ensured she retained her title.

However, they didn’t take the defeat in deed as an online banter broke following Zambian claims of rigging and subsequently, throwing a punch suggesting the loser stood no chance because she was “fighting with a man”. This was the straw that broke the camel’s back.

Kenyans went to war against Zambians who were clutching at straws to stay afloat in the banter that castigated their security services, government, popularity, and even existence.

The latter was emulated by some Kenyans who reportedly edited the Wikipedia page of the country suggesting that “Zambia is a quarantined village in South Africa. (Although some sources consider it a country.) It was established and marked for medical science purposes in 1429.”

The edited Wikipedia page posted online added that: “The people of Zambia are called Zombies and they are used as guinea pigs in medical practices…”

According to local Kenyan media, the Wikipedia page also claimed that Zambia’s capital city Lusaka is named after “a former Kenya’s Speaker for the National Assembly Kenneth Lusaka”.

The information on the page has since been corrected and locked by Wikipedia to avoid further editing with misinformation, reports Nairobi News.

Kenyans are noted for going all out when it comes to online banters as witnessed in the past three years when they went at it with Nigerians, South Africans, Ugandans and many other countries and organisations.

PS: Don’t mess with Kenyans online.