BT FACTCHECK

HOAX: Kalonzo Musyoka Has Not Withdrawn From Presidential Race

BT ReporterJan 24, 20221.3k

On 16th January, Wiper leader Kalonzo Musyoka reiterated that he was still in the race for the biggest office in the land.

A tweet claiming that Wiper leader Kalonzo Musyoka has withdrawn his presidential bid is fake.

According to the tweet, shared on 11th January 2022, Kalonzo, the leader of the Wiper Democratic Movement, had dropped his bid and was ready to join the Azimio La Umoja movement championed by ODM leader, Raila Odinga.

The claim came after governors Kivutha Kibwana (Makueni), Charity Ngilu (Kitui) and Alfred Mutua (Machakos) castigated Kalonzo over his waning grip on Ukambani’s backyard. Speaking in Machakos, Kivutha Kibwana and Alfred Mutua said they would show the Kamba community a new political direction in the race to succeed Uhuru.

A fact-check on the tweets, however, reveals that they are fake. A review of the former vice president’s social media platforms yielded no information on the supposed withdrawal. Kalonzo Musyoka’s aide, Dennis Kavisu, dismissed the reports, telling Business Today that the news was false.

A Google search on the withdrawal news does not yield anything apart from some of the false tweets. Such news would have been reported prominently by both mainstream media and online news websites.

On 16th January, Kalonzo reiterated that he was still in the race, after speculation that he was contemplating joining the Azimio La Umoja movement.

[This story was produced by Business Today in partnership with Code for Africa’s iLAB data journalism programme, with support from Deutsche Welle Akademie ]