FALSE: Raila Odinga Has Not Been Appointed To United Nations Board

A tweet claiming Azimio La Umoja One Kenya Alliance coalition presidential candidate Raila Odinga has been appointed to the United Nations Board is false. According to the tweet, which was shared by a number of Twitter accounts on 14th September 2022, Raila has been appointed the “UN political affairs, peace, and humanitarian boss all over the world”.

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The information went viral on social media and blogs and was even shared by prominent political leaders such as Kakamega Deputy Governor and former Lugari MP Ayub Savula. The claim came after Raila travelled to Zanzibar a few days after the Supreme Court dismissed his petition challenging William Ruto’s presidential election.

On 27th September 2022, we contacted Raila Odinga’s communications department, which confirmed that the information was false. “That piece of information is fake news,” said Dennis Onyango, Raila Odinga’s spokesperson. “If you check, we have dismissed this claim in various forums.”

Indeed, the claim has been the subject of various fact-checks. Mr Dennis Onsarigo, Azimio’s press secretary, said earlier there was no such appointment.

Also, Salim Lone, who was Raila Odinga’s spokesman between 2007 and 2012, dismissed the claim. “This fake news is doing the rounds. It’s utter rubbish. Those pushing it are clearly worried about Raila’s continuing intense appeal despite the Supreme Court setback,” Lone said in a tweet published on 14th September.

Additionally, the UN and Azimio La Umoja Coalition have not issued any official statement in support of the report. 

A keyword search on Google shows no publication has reported on the alleged appointment. We also reviewed the verified accounts of Raila Odinga, his ODM Party, and the United Nations and found no such announcement.

The UN political affairs Under-Secretary position is currently held by Rosemary A. DiCarlo of the United States, who was appointed on May 1, 2018. In October 2018, Raila Odinga was appointed the African Union High Representative for Infrastructure Development in Africa.

This fact-check was produced by BUSINESS TODAY with support from Code for Africa’s PesaCheck, African Fact Checking Alliance network and the United Nations Development Programme.

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