An official-looking letter posted on Facebook appears to order the demolition of the Kenyan anti-corruption agency’s headquarters.
The letter is dated 14 November 2019 and seemingly signed by Mike Sonko, governor of Nairobi, Kenya’s capital and one of the country’s 47 counties. It’s addressed to Julius Wanjau, taskforce manager of the Nairobi City Regeneration Programme.
The programme aims to redevelop and clean up the city.
The letter is headed: “Demolition of the Integrity Centre and other facilities on grabbed public lands and road reserves.”
The Integrity Centre is the headquarters of Kenya’s Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC). The letter goes on to accuse the commission of aiding corruption.
“I hereby direct you to expeditiously begin the process of demolishing the Integrity Centre,” it says. “The building also houses the Ethics and Anti-corruption Commission offices whose senior officials deserve to be in jail.”
The EACC is investigating Sonko for corruption. But did the governor order the demolition of the agency’s headquarters?
Sonko’s response was brief but to the point.
On 16 November, on his verified Twitter account, he tweeted a copy of the letter with “FAKE” stamped in red across it.
He added a bible verse: “But I say to you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you.”
No, Nairobi’s governor hasn’t ordered the demolition of the anti-corruption agency’s headquarters. – Grace Gichuhi
The letter is dated 14 November 2019 and seemingly signed by Mike Sonko, governor of Nairobi, Kenya’s capital and one of the country’s 47 counties. It’s addressed to Julius Wanjau, taskforce manager of the Nairobi City Regeneration Programme.
The programme aims to redevelop and clean up the city.
The letter is headed: “Demolition of the Integrity Centre and other facilities on grabbed public lands and road reserves.”
The Integrity Centre is the headquarters of Kenya’s Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC). The letter goes on to accuse the commission of aiding corruption.
“I hereby direct you to expeditiously begin the process of demolishing the Integrity Centre,” it says. “The building also houses the Ethics and Anti-corruption Commission offices whose senior officials deserve to be in jail.”
The EACC is investigating Sonko for corruption. But did the governor order the demolition of the agency’s headquarters?
‘Pray for those who persecute you’
Sonko’s response was brief but to the point.
On 16 November, on his verified Twitter account, he tweeted a copy of the letter with “FAKE” stamped in red across it.
He added a bible verse: “But I say to you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you.”
No, Nairobi’s governor hasn’t ordered the demolition of the anti-corruption agency’s headquarters. – Grace Gichuhi
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[email protected]: The challenges of working across Africa
Misinformation knows no borders and Africa Check often responds to similar false claims from country to country.
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