A fake news story went out last week that a lecturer at Moi University in Eldoret killed a nursing student. On Friday, October 11, vice chancellor Prof Isaac Kosgey issued a statement denying anything of the sort happened.
That press statement meant to set the record straight instead exposed how public communication is sometimes not taken seriously by persons in authority. It is strange that a statement signed by a university vice chancellor could have such glaring writing errors. They later issued an edited version.
“Our attention has been drawn to news circulating in the social medical about the purported killing of a finalist female student at Moi University, School of Nursing by a lecturer. The true position is that no Lecturer has killed a student,” Prof Kosgey wrote.
The fake news, you read that right, was circulating in the “social medical.” In that paragraph, lecturer is spelt with capital L as well as lower case. Why?
“The intension of the authors of alarming fake news is evil and we condemn in the strongest terms possible.”
Normally, the word is spelt as “intention”, which means aim, objective, plan.
“We wish to assure our stakeholders that the University has responsible Lectures who will not engage in such a vice, and our students are always secure and safe on Campus”.
What did the good prof mean by the university has “responsible Lectures”? And why is the C on campus capitalised?
Well, people have for ages complained about the country’s falling academic standards and how public universities spend millions of shillings building magnificent gates at the expense of their core business of teaching, research and community service.
Apparently, Moi University cannot afford a proof-reader at VC’s office to polish the busy academic’s copy. To be sure, the university teaches communications and has a PR office. What are those guys paid for?
In the wake of a Royal Media Services reporter who made some errors on live TV weeks back, some people argued that ability to speak/write good English is no proof of intelligence.
Maybe. But what would Prof Kosgey think of the student whose PhD thesis was littered with the appalling errors appearing in his press statement?
