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
Republish our content for free
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