IN SHORT: An image circulating on social media claims to show 20 new ambassadors and heads of mission. The list is fake.
An image purporting to be an official list of shortlisted candidates for ambassadors and heads of mission is making the rounds on Facebook in Kenya. There are 20 names on it.
The user who posted it claims that the Public Service Commission (PSC) has shortlisted the candidates as part of its constitutional mandate.
It reads in part: “Article 155(3)(a) of the Constitution of Kenya 2010 mandates the Public Service Commission to recommend to the President persons for nomination and appointment as Kenyan ambassadors and heads of missions in foreign nations.”
Ambassadors are the most senior foreign government officials. Their main role is to represent their government or head of state before courts and in other countries' capitals.
The image has also been published here, here, here, here and here.
The gist of the claim is that regions that did not support president William Ruto in the August 2022 general elections are being excluded from government jobs.
But is the claim legitimate? We checked.
Ignore fake list
There has been no mention of this list in any credible news outlet in Kenya. But other changes in the foreign service have been reported.
We found a post on the PSC website dismissing the list as "FAKE".
“It has come to our attention that some fraudulent individuals are circulating a fake list of appointed Ambassadors and Heads of missions purporting to originate from the Public Service Commission. We would like to inform the public that the list is fake and should be treated as such,” the PSC wrote.
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