FAKE: This digital card with a quote attributed to politician Gathoni Wamuchomba is fabricated
An ethnically prejudicial digital card with the branding of Tuko.co.ke, a Kenyan publication, is FAKE.
The card purports to contain a quote by Gathoni Wamuchomba, the Kiambu County women representative. It was shared on Twitter ahead of a by-election in Kiambaa constituency.
“People of Kiambaa have rejected Kariri Njama. He is an outsider from western. Look at him closely and see his colour and that of Raila Odinga is the same. Let us not elect a Luo in Kiambaa,” reads the post in part.
The quote appears to be ethnically prejudiced against the ruling Jubilee Party’s candidate in the Kiambaa parliamentary by-election, Kariri Njama.
The post accompanying the digital card castigates the legislator for making the alleged sentiments although it does not indicate when or where they were made.
“This is uncalled for and a dangerous trend for an elected leader. Wamuchomba should be held accountable for such irresponsible spats. It’s wrong to insult a candidate simply because you are supporting the opposing side. That’s retrogressive,” reads the post.
The digital card was shared by another social media user in a number of Facebook groups with tens of thousands of members, including here and here.
The Kiambaa parliamentary seat fell vacant following the death of the sitting MP, Paul Koinange, due to COVID-19 complications on 31 March 2021.
The Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) scheduled the by-election for 15 July 2021.
Among the contestants in the by-elections include John Njuguna, who represents United Democratic Alliance (UDA) — a party allied to Deputy President William Ruto whose presidential bid Wamuchomba supports.
However, there is no information about the alleged statement attributed to Wamuchomba on her Facebook page where she routinely posts political-related activities.
Similarly, there is no information about the said statement on the website of TUKO.co.ke, its Facebook or Twitter pages.
In a response to PesaCheck via Facebook Messenger, the news organisation disowned the digital card in question.
“This is fake information. TUKO.co.ke hasn’t published such information in any of its outlets. We would advise our readers to ignore it and treat it with the contempt it deserves,” reads the response.
Additionally, in a Facebook post on 14 July 2021, the news organisation flagged the digital card as fake and urged members of the public to ignore it.
“All authentic, verified and approved content from us are published on our social media pages and website. We, therefore, distance ourselves from it and humbly appeal to our readers to disregard it,” reads the post.
Further, the legislator told PesaCheck in a response via Facebook Messenger that the digital card is fake and that she would press charges against those behind it.
She also dismissed the digital card, through a post on her official Facebook page, terming it as a “desperate attempt” by people “using fake news to seek sympathy”.
PesaCheck has looked into the digital card containing the branding of Tuko.co.ke and a quote attributed to the Kiambu County women representative, Gathoni Wamuchomba, and finds it to be FAKE.
This post is part of an ongoing series of PesaCheck fact-checks examining content marked as potential misinformation on Facebook and other social media platforms.
By partnering with Facebook and similar social media platforms, third-party fact-checking organisations like PesaCheck are helping to sort fact from fiction. We do this by giving the public deeper insight and context to posts they see in their social media feeds.
Have you spotted what you think is fake news or false information on Facebook? Here’s how you can report. And, here’s more information on PesaCheck’s methodology for fact-checking questionable content.
This fact-check was written by PesaCheck fact-checker Simon Muli and edited by PesaCheck deputy editor Rose Lukalo. The article was approved for publication by managing editor Enock Nyariki.
PesaCheck is East Africa’s first public finance fact-checking initiative. It was co-founded by Catherine Gicheru and Justin Arenstein, and is being incubated by the continent’s largest civic technology and data journalism accelerator: Code for Africa. It seeks to help the public separate fact from fiction in public pronouncements about the numbers that shape our world, with a special emphasis on pronouncements about public finances that shape government’s delivery of Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) public services, such as healthcare, rural development and access to water/sanitation. PesaCheck also tests the accuracy of media reportage. To find out more about the project, visit pesacheck.org.
PesaCheck is an initiative of Code for Africa, through its innovateAFRICA fund, with support from Deutsche Welle Akademie, in partnership with a coalition of local African media and other civic watchdog organisations.