By Lucy Mwangi and Jacob Nyongesa
- A Nation headline claiming Raila Odinga, the leader of the Orange Democratic Movement, has hinted at selecting Interior Cabinet Secretary Fred Matiang’i as his running mate, is false. A close look at a video on YouTube by News54, which premiered on 22 October, reveals that Raila did not mention picking Matiang’i as his running mate, but instead promised that they will walk together.
2. A letter purporting to be from the Director of Public Prosecutions to Deputy President William Ruto is fake. The invitation letter that was copied to President Uhuru asked Ruto to participate in the ongoing matter and referred to Ruto’s statements about a dams scandal, in which he claimed that only Sh7 billion was lost. The Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions, in a tweet on October 22, dismissed the letter, saying it was fake and had not been dispatched by Noordin Haji.
3.A screenshot that went viral on social media purporting to be from ODM director of communications Philip Etale about Kirinyaga Governor Anne Waiguru joining UDA was fake. The post shared on October 26 indicated Etale was angry with Waiguru because ODM helped her avoid impeachment and graft cases that had dogged her. Now she had decided to be ungrateful to ODM by joining UDA. The badge on a verified Facebook account is a white tick inside a ruffled blue circle, while the tick in the screenshot is black, indicating that it was photoshopped. The communication director flagged the screenshot as fake news on his Twitter account on October 26.
4. A Facebook post claiming that Nyeri Town MP Ngunjiri Wambugu said he would decide which political party to run on after consulting his constituency is false. According to the post published on October 26, Wambugu stated there are no permanent enemies in politics, and that everyone has the right to join the political party of his or her choice. The outspoken lawmaker flagged the screenshot as fake news on his Twitter account on October 26.
