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Ignore fake social media accounts impersonating Kenyan media tycoon SK Macharia

Kenyan media tycoon Samuel Kamau “SK” Macharia supported former prime minister Raila Odinga’s presidential bid in the 9 August 2022 elections. 

Macharia owns Royal Media Services, a Kenyan media company with radio, TV and digital media outlets. 

In the run-up to the elections, several Twitter and Facebook accounts with Macharia’s name popped up. 

One Twitter account is named “Dr. Sk Macharia”, uses his photo as its profile pic and tweets with the handle “@sk_macharia_”. Its header photo is the logo of Citizen Digital, a popular website owned by Macharia’s company. The account came online in July and now has 472 followers. The bio reads: “Head of ROYAL MEDIA SERVICES”.

Another account with the name “SK Macharia” and handle “@Sk_Machariaa” also uses photos of the tycoon. It was opened in March and has accumulated 52,700 followers. The bio reads: “DAD, PEACE LOVER, BUSSINESS MAN”.

Both accounts actively engage with users. Their many tweets show strong support for Odinga.

On Facebook, there are at least four accounts with photos of Macharia and names such as “Hon SK Macharia”, “SK Macharia”, “S.K. Macharia” and “Sk Macharia”.

But which one is the media mogul’s real account? We checked.

MachariaAccount_Fake

‘Dr SK Macharia is not on social media’

On 27 July Citizen TV, another Royal Media Services outlet, warned on Facebook that Macharia had no social media accounts. 

“BEWARE OF FAKE SOCIAL MEDIA ACCOUNTS: This is to inform the general public that Dr S.K. Macharia, Chairman of the Royal Media Services does not have any social media accounts on Facebook or Twitter or any other social media platforms,” the post reads

“Kindly disregard any messages or requests received from these online fraudsters. Also do not open any messages or links coming from them."

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