Uhuru contradicts Jubilee on Cambridge Analytica's election role

President Uhuru Kenyatta leading discussions during Africa leaders roundtable-Commonwealth business forum at Guildhall in London, on the sidelines of the Commonwealth Heads of Government meeting 2018 (CHOGM). (Photo: PSCU)

President Uhuru Kenyatta has for the first time talked about the alleged role of British data analytics firm Cambridge Analytica (CA) in last year’s General Election by denying his party hired the firm.

The president who was speaking to CNN denied ever meeting any of CA’s senior staff. His position however contradicts his Jubilee Party which last month said it paid for services from Strategic Communication Laboratories (SCL) — an affiliate of Cambridge Analytica.

“I have no knowledge of any engagement whatsoever with Cambridge Analytica. I hear it on your news media,” Kenyatta told CNN’s Christian Amanpour on her show which aired on Friday night and yesterday morning.

When further probed on whether he knew or has ever met Cambridge Analytica’s managing director Mark Turnbull, the President denied.

“You need to just look at the speeches that we were making across the country and tell me what speech do you see there that has been written. Ninety nine percent of all speeches that I made during that period were off the cuff and I addressed over 700 political rallies in a period of seven months,” he said.

Mr Turnbull had in an expose aired by British Channel 4 last month boasted how he met Kenyatta. Jubilee Party chairman David Murathe agreed they hired the services of CA but not for voter manipulation. “They were basically branding and all that but not directly,” said Mr Murathe on March 21.

Yesterday however, videos shared on multiple You Tube channels by third parties about Kenyatta’s interview with CNN had been edited to clean out the parts where he was taken to task about Cambridge Analytica’s role in Kenya’s election.

Confident President

During the interview, the President also denied that government played role in the violence that marred last year’s General Election while insisting that the television stations which were shut deserved it.

President Kenyatta also took a swipe at US President Donald Trump for his anti-immigration policies, praised UK’s Prime Minister Theresa May for immigration policies and said Kenya does not consider gay rights relevant.

Kenyatta said it is regrettable that people died as a result of a political contest.

“Nobody celebrates the death of anyone. One of the things we must be clear about is that yes indeed there were unfortunate incidents and some of those unfortunate incidents were actively instigated by certain individuals for political goals,” he said.

Unsatisfied with the answers a composed Kenyatta gave on the deaths that followed the disputed election, Christian Amanpour pushed him to apologise.

“Before I dig down more into that I want to know for the parent’s sake, I just want to know do you as President of Kenya offer an apology to parents for the innocent deaths?” Asked Amanpour.

“As a parent myself I feel for them, I sympathise for them and I give them my assurance that I will do everything that is in my power to ensure this kind of thing never happens again and make available channels to ensure that anybody who lost life or property is availed a channel to get justice. That I put on the table,” responded Kenyatta.