IN SHORT: Many Kenyans are having to count their shillings and cents and civil servants are facing salary delays. But Bomet county women rep Linet Toto didn’t suggest the government’s answer to this was to “print more money” – the quote has been made up.
A graphic circulating on Facebook in April 2023 attributes a controversial quote to Bomet county woman representative Linet Chepkorir, who is widely known as Linet Toto.
According to the graphic, Chepkorir said that the Kenyan government will print money to control the current financial crisis.
“Kenya Kwanza government will print more money next week to pay public servants and pay loans, and this will lower cost of living,” the quote reads.
The graphic features the logo of Citizen Digital, a popular news website owned by the Royal Media Services media company.
The Kenya Kwanza government refers to Kenyan president William Ruto’s administration.
Kenya Kwanza, an alliance of political parties set up ahead of the August 2022 elections and led by Ruto, beat the Azimio la Umoja One Kenya coalition, headed by Kenyan opposition leader Raila Odinga, to form the government.
The Chepkorir quote appeared as the salaries of Kenyan civil servants had been delayed for the month of March 2023, with some government workers threatening to go on strike. Kenyans were also grappling with the high cost of living.
Kenyan deputy president Rigathi Gachagua has blamed the previous government for accumulating huge debts, saying Ruto’s government had prioritised repaying them, in turn leading to the salary delays.
The graphic has been posted here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here and here.
The quote has exposed the lawmaker to ridicule online, but did she make this statement? We checked.
Graphic fake, quote made up
Citizen Digital graphics are usually posted on the Citizen TV Kenya verified Facebook page and Twitter account. This graphic can’t be found on either social media account.
We also looked for the quote on the lawmaker’s Facebook page and found it stamped “fake” and captioned “Kindly ignore”.
We also found the same claim circulating in another graphic, this one designed to look like it was published by major Kenyan news site, the Nation. It was published here and here on Facebook.
But the quote attributed to Chepkorir is made up and the graphics quoting it are fake.
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