A graphic circulating on Facebook attributes a controversial quote to Kenyan presidential candidate George Wajackoyah.
In it, he appears to suggest that he won’t participate in the presidential debate scheduled for 26 July 2022 if he has to debate with deputy president and presidential candidate William Ruto.
“If Raila Odinga will not be at the presidential debate, I am not going to waste my time debating with a thief,” the quote reads.
The graphic looks as though it was published by news website Kenyans.co.ke.
Wajackoyah is running for president on the Roots Party of Kenya ticket and is one of four candidates the Kenyan Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission has cleared to run for president in the August general elections.
Ruto is the leader of Kenya Kwanza alliance and is running on the United Democratic Alliance party ticket. Odinga leads the Orange Democratic Movement and will run for president on the Azimio la Umoja One Kenya coalition ticket.
Odinga, who enjoys the support of incumbent president Uhuru Kenyatta, has on several occasions called Ruto a “thief” of public resources. This label has been adopted by his allies and supporters.
The graphic has been shared here, here and here.
But is the quote real and the graphic legit? We checked.
Fake graphic
On 8 July Kenyans.co.ke posted the graphic on social media, stamping it “fake”.
“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,” the news site wrote on Facebook.
“We, therefore, flag it as FAKE. For official communication from Kenyans.co.ke, always visit the official website and verified social media pages,” it added.
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