Raila Odinga, leader of Kenya’s opposition Orange Democratic Movement and presidential candidate in the country’s August 2022 elections, named former justice minister Martha Karua as his running mate on 16 May.
Karua heads Narc Kenya, a party in Odinga’s Azimio la Umoja One Kenya election coalition. If he wins, she will become the country’s first female deputy president.
Soon after the announcement, a screengrab of what seems to be a tweet in which Samia Suluhu, president of neighbouring Tanzania, appears to congratulate Karua, began circulating on social media.
It reads, in Kiswahili: “Nimepokea kwa furaha habari za uteuzi wa mama @MarthaKarua kama mgombea mwenza wa @RailaOdinga. Mama Karua anatambulika kote Afrika kwa kazi yake nzuri na ataifaa sana taifa la Kenya. Nawaomba wakenya waitumie vyema nafasi ya mabadiliko,” the screengrab reads.
This loosely translates as: “I have received with happiness news of Martha Karua’s appointment as Raila Odinga’s running mate. Karua is recognised across Africa for her exemplary work and she will be very useful to Kenya. I urge Kenyans to use the opportunity for change well.”
Suluhu is the first female president of Tanzania. But did she really tweet this? We checked.
Tweet predates announcement
Several clues indicate that the tweet is fake.
A Twitter search for it returned no results. The date on the tweet is 15 May, the day before Odinga’s announcement. This is strong evidence that it’s fake.
And there was no mention of the tweet by any credible media outlet. If Suluhu had congratulated Karua on Twitter, it would have been big news in Kenya - and Tanzania.
On 16 May, Kenyan government spokesperson Gerson Msigwa posted a message on Instagram dismissing the tweet as fake.
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