IN SHORT: The selection process to appoint a team to recruit new commissioners for Kenya’s Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission continues. But a graphic claiming that politician Martha Karua has accused the Wiper party leader of nepotism is not authentic.
Kenyan politician Martha Karua has accused her former ally and Wiper party leader Kalonzo Musyoka of nepotism. That’s according to a graphic that has been making the rounds on social media in Kenya since 15 December 2024.
“Dr Augustus Muli rightfully won with 17 votes to Koki’s 7- there’s no debate! Kalonzo should stop nepotism with the IEBC process,” the graphic reads.
It includes the logo of the Kenyan news site Nation Africa, implying that they published it.
Ambassador Dr Koki Muli Grignon is a distinguished Kenyan scholar, diplomat and expert on electoral law, democracy, governance and human rights.
Musyoka is a close ally of Koki Muli. Musyoka has actively supported her bid to join the electoral commission despite her defeat by Dr Augustus Muli of the National Liberal Party (NLP) during a selection process within the Azimio la Umoja coalition. The process was supervised by the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC).
Karua's party was part of the coalition, but it issued a notice to withdraw from the alliance in July 2024. The Wiper party and the NLP are still part of the coalition.
Musyoka continues to advocate for Koki Muli’s appointment, citing concerns about the selection process and the need for gender balance. This has led to legal challenges and delays in the IEBC's reconstitution, with allegations that his insistence is causing a stalemate.
The graphic began circulating amid debate over the delay in appointing a team to recruit new commissioners for the IEBC.
The appointment delays were caused by a court case brought by Augustus Muli against the Wiper party. Augustus Muli accused the party of blocking the reconstitution of the IEBC by nominating Koki Muli as Azimio's representative on the selection committee.
The reconstitution of the IEBC has been a sensitive issue in Kenya following the resignation of commissioners in the disputed 2022 general elections. The IEBC cannot conduct elections because it is not properly constituted to carry out its mandate.
But is the graphic legit? We checked.
Fake graphic
The graphic in question has several red flags. For instance, on a genuine graphic by Nation Africa, the first two words at the beginning of the first sentence are written in capital letters. This is not the case on the circulating graphic.
Nation Africa often posts its graphics on its verified social media accounts, including Facebook and X (formerly Twitter). Africa Check scoured the accounts for the graphic and came up empty.
Close examination of the graphic reveals inconsistencies with Nation Africa’s official branding. The font, layout, and color palette differ from those used on verified Nation Africa graphics.
On 13 December, Karua, through her X account, labelled the card as “fake”.
Africa Check also contacted Nation Media Group. They disowned the graphic.
The graphic in question is fake and should be ignored.
The fake graphic also appears here, here, here, here, here and here.
For publishers: what to do if your post is rated false
A fact-checker has rated your Facebook or Instagram post as “false”, “altered”, “partly false” or “missing context”. This could have serious consequences. What do you do?
Click on our guide for the steps you should follow.
Publishers guideAfrica Check teams up with Facebook
Africa Check is a partner in Meta's third-party fact-checking programme to help stop the spread of false information on social media.
The content we rate as “false” will be downgraded on Facebook and Instagram. This means fewer people will see it.
You can also help identify false information on Facebook. This guide explains how.
Add new comment