Finance Minister Tito Mboweni returned from his own self-imposed Twitter “retirement” to say that his “Kigali friends” had urged him to stay on the platform.
“I was in Kigali over this weekend and I was told that it is a bad idea for me to leave Twitter. I respect my Kigali friends. Fikile Mbalula told me the same thing. I am thinking about my decision. For now, my decision stands. Twitter is no longer a networked society but ABUSIVE,” he tweeted.
“I was told in Kigali that my tweets about Kigali have made the country well known to South Africans and that many are now visiting RWANDA. I can confirm that a South African confirmed to me on RwandAir that they visited the country to verify my impressions. They confirmed my views,” he added in another tweet.
READ MORE: Chef makes Tito Mboweni ‘cry’ in Rwanda
Then, in a third tweet, he wrote: “I will announce my FINAL DECISION on Friday, December 13, 2019”.
It is 3pm December 13 at the time of publication, and Mboweni has not yet made his “final decision”.
Responding to his tweet was none other than the President of Rwanda, Paul Kagame, who said it was not a “Twitter” problem but one with people in general.
“When you’re fine, you are fine… Just get on with your life the way you want and find it fit. Go back to tweeting, you will be fine!!” he said.
Mboweni is known for his love of Kigali, and at one point was met with criticism from South Africans on social media for saying the Rwandan capital was cleaner than Johannesburg.
Hey @tito_mboweni ,it is not Twitter the problem it is people the…! When you're fine you are fine…Just get on with your life the way you want and find it fit.
Go back to tweeting you will be fine!! 🙂— Paul Kagame (@PaulKagame) December 10, 2019
Mboweni is well known for his Twitter presence which has included him showcasing his cooking skills and seemingly declaring war on the media.
He wrote both a Facebook post and a tweet at around 2am on October 30, saying he had “resigned” from social media.
“After a long thought process, I have decided not to do any original tweets anymore. I might, just might, retweet (not endorsement). I came to the conclusion that Twitter is no longer about its original purpose: ie to create a networked society. It is now an abusive platform,” he said on Twitter.
READ MORE: Mboweni ‘resigns’ from social media because of ‘abuse’
“Given the amount of abuse I go through on these social media platforms, I have decided not to be part of it. I have resigned. I will read your postings BUT you will no longer read my posts. So long my friends. I will only re-post other intelligent offerings. It was good but the time has come to say goodbye,” his message on Facebook read.
About an hour after that, however, he was back to posting on Facebook, proving he did not take his own resignation very seriously.
He posted pictures and described a “very good meeting” with President Cyril Ramaphosa at his house to discuss the mid-term budget speech.
