By Eunice Omollo
Days after voting ended in Kenya’s 2022 general election, social media users are sharing news on electoral contests in the counties and nationally.
This often happens before the commission managing the election, the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission, announces the results officially.
In Kirinyaga County, the race to be the next governor was largely between the incumbent governor, Anne Waiguru, and Purity Ngirici, an independent candidate who is currently Kirinyaga County’s women representative.
Users on social media claimed that Ngirici had won the election. Then the Azimio la Umoja coalition’s candidate for deputy president, Martha Karua, tweeted:
“Congrats @WanguiNgirici your win is of great significance.”
The tweet was flagged by Twitter as unconfirmed: “The Kenyan Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission might not have called the election results when this was Tweeted. Stay informed.”
On Friday afternoon an IEBC staffer confirmed to us that Anne Waiguru had been declared the winner of the election for governor in Kirinyaga.
In Langata constituency, social media users had claimed that Nixon Korir of the United Democratic Alliance had been re-elected to the National Assembly, only for him to concede that radio host Phelix Odiwuor ‘Jalang’o’ of the Orange Democratic Movement had won.
The former majority leader in the National Assembly, Aden Duale, was supposed to have lost in Garissa Township, only to be declared the winner. The same was claimed of former Nairobi governor Evans Kidero, only for Gladys Wanga to prevail in their contest for the governorship in Homa Bay.
