By Vincent Ng’ethe
On 30 June 2022, Kenya’s deputy president, William Ruto, led his Kenya Kwanza alliance of political parties in unveiling its manifesto in Nairobi.
This was nearly a month after the other main frontrunner in the election, Raila Odinga, unveiled a manifesto for the Azimio la Umoja coalition of political parties which he leads. Kenya goes to the polls on 9 August 2022.
On the day of the launch, excerpts of what looked like a manifesto were shared on Twitter. The excerpts appeared to come from an elaborate document that included a title page, an introduction and sections on county development plans, land, monopolies, hawkers and manufacturing.
‘Relocating populations’
One excerpt of the document spoke of the relocating populations from Kenya’s largest informal settlement, Kibera to parts of Northern Kenya and relocating “excess” population from Kiambu County to Kilifi at the coast of Kenya. Another passage mentioned the “reclamation” of Nairobi National Park.
“This is insane! Kenya Kwanza want to relocate people from Kibera to Marsabit and Samburu so that the land reclaimed for a dam. Then take people from Kiambu all the way relocated to Kilifi. This #Liefesto is hogwash. #SikuZaMwizi are over,” the Twitter user said.
Another user quoted a section of the document that claimed the government would “bring down the big companies that profit from hustlers.” The document also spoke of “population redistribution and land reallocation targeting the Rift Valley Region”.
Was the document in fact the real manifesto of Ruto’s Kenya Kwanza coalition?
Mr Hussein Mohamed, the director of communications for Ruto’s presidential campaign tweeted that the document was false, and attached four pages of the document with the word “FAKE” stamped on them “Keep calm and wait for the real thing. Freedom is coming!” he tweeted.
