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No, Kenyan opposition MP didn’t say it was becoming difficult to ‘sell ideas’ in his own coalition

IN SHORT: A graphic with a quote attributed to Alego Usonga MP Samuel Atandi, saying he is displeased with the running of the Orange Democratic Movement, has been circulating on social media platforms in Kenya. But Atandi has denied this and the graphic is fake.

“It has become too difficult to sell our ideas in ODM because Hon Opiyo Wandayi seems to be Mr know it all,” reads a quote circulating on a graphic on Facebook. 

The quote is attributed to Samuel Atandi, member of parliament for Alego Usonga, a constituency in Siaya county in western Kenya.

The graphic includes the Standard Kenya media house logo, a photo of Atandi and is dated 25 July 2023, as though it were a digital card published by the Standard.

Opiyo Wandayi is the national assembly minority leader and a member of the Orange Democratic Movement (ODM). 

Following the August 2022 elections where Kenya Kwanza coalition leader William Ruto was declared the new Kenyan president, several members of parliament who were previously in the opposition Azimio coalition defected to Kenya Kwanza. Raila Odinga is the Azimio coalition and ODM party leader.

The quote seems to allude to the cracks and leadership wrangles within ODM. 

The graphic has been shared here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here and here.

The quote has also been shared here, here, here and here without the digital card.

But is the quote accurate? We checked.

AtandiQuote_Fake

Made up quote and graphic

We could not find the graphic on the Standard’s verified Facebook or Twitter profile pages. (Twitter was rebranded as X in July 2023.)

On 26 July Atandi posted the graphic on his Twitter profile with the words “fake” stamped on it in red. He tweeted: “Fake news! @Standard Kenya.”

The graphic and its quote are fabricated.

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