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Ignore fake accounts impersonating Jimmy Kibaki, son of former Kenyan president Mwai Kibaki

A screenshot of a tweet posted on Facebook claims Jimmy Kibaki, eldest son of former Kenyan president Mwai Kibaki, endorses deputy president William Ruto’s bid for the presidency in the 9 August 2022 elections. 

“I am not a Politician, but this year I decide to Support two people, 1. H.E @WilliamsRuto the next 5th Presidency of the Republic of Kenya,” reads the text on the screenshot from a Twitter account with a photo of Jimmy Kibaki.

“HE” stands for “his excellency” and @WilliamsRuto is the deputy president’s Twitter handle. 

We also found a similar tweet on another account with the name “Jimmy Kibaki HSC” and the handle @Jimmy_Kibakii. 

Another screenshot of a tweet was previously posted on Facebook with a similar message of support for Ruto’s Kenya Kwanza coalition. There are also dozens of screenshots of tweets from the account posted on Facebook. 

But did Kibaki’s son turn to Twitter to show his political preference in the upcoming elections?

We checked. 

Kibaki_Fake

Imposter accounts

A closer look at one of the accounts showed the verification badge is placed wrongly. A Twitter verification badge comes right after the Twitter handle, but in this case, the verification badge is next to the image. It was inserted together with the profile picture as an image. 

On 13 May, Jimmy Kibaki released a statement cautioning Kenyans of the fake accounts on Twitter impersonating him. The statement was widely reported in Kenyan mainstream media platforms here, here and here

“It has come to my attention that there are several fake Twitter accounts impersonating me and purporting to imply that I support the Kenya Kwanza political formation,” he said in the statement. 

“I would like to take this opportunity to inform Kenyans that they should ignore all fake and preposterous announcements emanating from these delinquent imposters.”

The statement concluded: “As to who I will vote for in the upcoming presidential election in August; as the voting is by secret ballot, my vote is, as it is for my fellow citizens, my secret”. 

Contacted by Africa Check, he replied: “@Jimmy Kibaki is my official Twitter account. There are several fake accounts out there that we have reported, especially @jimmy_Kibakii .”

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