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‘The president is playing us’? Tweet by parody account, not Kenyan lawmaker Millie Odhiambo

Kenyan MP Millie Odhiambo, a member of the opposition Orange Democratic Movement, has asked party leader Raila Odinga to review his pact with the country’s president Uhuru Kenyatta

Or so it seems in a screenshot of a tweet from the account @HonMillieO.

“I think it’s time for Raila Odinga to revisit the handshake and also to reconsider our position on BBI because it’s evident that the president is playing us,” the tweet reads. “If that’s the case, BBI will not see the light of day.”

The screenshot began circulating on Facebook on 28 October 2020, just days after the launch of a Building Bridges Initiative (BBI) report proposing amendments to Kenya’s constitution. 

The “handshake” is the March 2018 accord between Odinga and Kenyatta after the president’s re-election in Kenya’s disputed 2017 polls.

Odhiambo has also been accused of heckling deputy president William Ruto during his speech at the launch of the BBI report. She has denied the accusation, saying she only “disagreed loudly”. 

But did she tweet that Kenyatta was “playing” Odinga and the Orange Democratic Movement?



‘Not active on Twitter’


The tweet is real, posted on the Twitter account @HonMillieO on 28 October. Africa Check contacted Odhiambo to ask about it.

“That tweet is from a parody account,” she told us on the phone. “My Twitter account’s handle is @Milliegeza and I am not even active on Twitter.”

The parody account was created in September 2020. The legit account @Milliegeza was created in September 2010. – Grace Gichuhi




 

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