A tweet and report claiming that former KNUT Secretary General Wilson Sossion has abandoned the Orange Democratic Movement to join the UDA Party is fake.
On Thursday, 26th August, information circulated on social media that Sossion, a nominated MP, had abandoned the ODM party, led by Raila Odinga, to join the United Democratic Alliance, which is associated with Deputy President William Ruto.
The article went ahead and quoted him saying: “They say charity begins at home, today in my residence, the elders of Motigo Sub location in Bomet Central have decided to endorse my senate aspirations in 2022. The elders have advised me to stick on the prize and avoid backing any politician but to support Deputy President William Ruto in his 2022 presidential bid as well as popularizing the newly formed party UDA.”
A fact-check by Business Today revealed that the information is false. In a tweet, Sossion described the social media reports about his defection and linking him to UDA as lies. “The fact that I shall gun for Bomet Senate seat in the next election does not mean I have left ODM. I am a very, very loyal member of ODM,” he said on Twitter.
Also, no mainstream media reported the “news” of the defection, with the information circulated mainly by a number of new blogs.
While the ODM nominated MP announced his intention to run for the Bomet senatorial seat in 2022, he did not specify which political party he would run on. Sossion stepped down as Kenya National Union of Teachers (KNUT) Secretary-General on 25th June 2021, a day to the union’s elections, to focus on his legislative duties.
VERDICT: Reports that Wilson Sossion has quit ODM and joined UDA are fake as Sossion has dismissed them as propaganda and lies.
[This story was produced by Business Today in partnership with Code for Africa’s iLAB data journalism programme, with support from Deutsche Welle Akademie ]
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