As early as 5am on Wednesday, August 10, the internet was awash with misinformation and unverified reports about the ongoing tallying of the six elective posts in the just concluded general elections. But are the posts factual? We find out.
Among the trending topics on Twitter for the better part of Wednesday was the hashtag #Jalas following reports that comedian turned politician Phelix Odiwour aka Jalang'o had lost the Lang'ata MP seat to the incumbent Nixon Korir.
Blogger and Vlogger Andrew Kibe was among the first online users to spread the news and even did a 7-minute video on his YouTube channel titled 'Jalang'o ng'oo!'.
In the video that had over 25,000 views and 571 comments as of Wednesday 1pm, Kibe made fun of Jalang'o who vied under the ODM party ticket saying he had mistaken his million subscribers on YouTube for votes.
However, hours later, the narrative changed after UDA's Nixon Korir, the incumbent MP Lang'ata took to social media to concede defeat way before the actual final tally is announced by the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) as is the norm.
Through his Facebook and Instagram accounts, Korir thanked his constituents for the opportunity to serve for the last five years. He congratulated Phelix Odiwour aka Jalang'o for being the projected winner who was leading in the tally as of Wednesday morning.
"To the people of Lang'ata, I sincerely thank you for according me an opportunity to be your Member of Parliament for the last 5 years. It's been a great opportunity that gave me an avenue to contribute to our nation-building and service to the people," he said.
Kibe's claims that Jalang'o had lost the election were false. However, IEBC, the commission mandated to announce the winner of any elective post has not yet declared the winner of the Lang'ata MP seat.
A spot check by The Standard on both of the contestants' unofficial tallying centres has shown that Jalang'o is leading in the 145,649-vote-rich constituency.
Both Jalang'o and Korir declined to comment on this fact-checking story.
