IN SHORT: Kericho county leadership has been rocked by allegations that funds meant for accident victims were misappropriated. But this graphic quoting the county’s deputy governor accusing the national government of delaying the funds is fabricated.
A graphic doing the rounds on Facebook attributes a quote to Kericho county deputy governor, Fred Kirui.
In the quote, Kirui appears to accuse the Kenyan government of delaying the disbursement of funds meant for victims of a road accident in the county.
“We will investigate the reasons for the delays in disbursement of promised funds from the office of the president and provide a transparent explanation to the public,” the quote reads.
The graphic seems to have been posted by a Facebook page with the logo of the Nation, Kenya’s largest daily newspaper.
On 30 June 2023, an out-of-control truck rammed into a busy market at a junction in Londiani town in Kericho county, killing 53 people.
On 4 July, Kenyan deputy president Rigathi Gachagua led a fundraising drive meant to help the victims of the accident and their families. In his speech at the event, Gachagua said the national government would contribute KSh300,000. According to local media, KSh14.5 million was raised in total.
But questions have been raised on how the money was spent. The deputy governor and some families have accused top officials in the county of misappropriating the funds, leading to a possible investigation by Kenya's directorate of criminal investigation.
Some of those who posted the graphic suggest that Kirui has finished fighting his own county officials, and is focusing on fighting Kenyan president Wiliam Ruto.
The graphic has been posted here, here, here, here, here and here. But is it accurate? We checked.
Signs of fake graphic
The poor writing of the graphic is the first sign that the quote is fabricated. The Nation, the largest circulating daily newspaper in the country, wouldn’t issue a graphic with random capitalisation and odd punctuation.
We could not find the graphic on the Nation’s verified Facebook page. Similarly, Kirui has not posted the quote on his official Facebook page.
The Nation has posted the graphic with the word “fake” stamped in red.
“Please note that the following card doing rounds on social media is not a product of the Nation. #FakeNewsAlert,” it captioned it. Kirui has also termed it “fake news.”
The graphic and its quote are fabricated.
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