By Victor Mboya
Five days remain until Kenya’s 2022 elections. When Kenyans vote, they will end a campaign period that has been filled with misinformation.
False information has included fake digital cards, and manipulated videos in which well-known people endorse election candidates.
A digital card shared on Facebook has the photograph of Dr Willy Mutunga, a former Chief Justice of Kenya. It shows the former chief justice praising the selection of Martha Karua, a lawyer and former cabinet minister, as a candidate for deputy president in the forthcoming election.
A quote attributed to the former justice reads: “This election was won the day SC. Martha Karua joined the contest as Raila’s running mate. It goes without saying, this is where Kenyans feel safe.”
Raila Odinga, who leads the Azimio la Umoja coalition is one of the frontrunners for the presidency. His main rival is William Ruto, who leads the Kenya Kwanza coalition.
‘Fake and scandalous’
The card purportedly quoting Mutunga, which has been widely shared, bears the logo of Kenyans.co.ke, a Kenyan news site.
The former chief justice tweeted that the card was a fake. “FAKE AND SCANDALOUS,” he wrote.
Kenyans.co.ke also stated they had not authored the digital card. “This post did not emanate from our media house. It does not conform to the in-house branding rules and did not go through the multiple approval checks set in place to prevent misreporting. We therefore flag it as FAKE,” the news site tweeted.
