Ford Kenya party leader Moses Wetangula has blasted Machakos Governor Alfred Mutua for, without verifying, posting on social media that Kalonzo Musyoka’s wife, Pauline is dead.
“I’m in a meeting with Steve Kalonzo, and Cyrus Jirongo at Steve’s residence. Mama Pauline is alive, safe, and sound.
“This is fake news at its highest crudity. Alfred Mutua you owe the country an apology,” Wetang’ula wrote on social media shortly after Mutua had posted a condolence message to the family of Kalonzo for the loss of his wife, an allegation that Kalonzo himself has refuted.
Through SKM Command Centre Head of Communications Paloma Gatabaki, Kalonzo said it was wrong for people to post information without confirming.
“This is fake news. It is unfortunate that we live in a time when people spend their minutes trying to get the most clicks and not tell the truth,” Gatabaki said in a statement.
Gatabaki regretted that those who posted about the fake news on Twitter have not apologised.
“It is said that the spinners of hateful, horrific and fake stories show no evidence of regret nor remorse for damage they do,” the statement added.
Machakos Governor Alfred Mutua was the first person to post about the alleged Pauline’s death before he quickly deleted the post and apologised.
“I wish to apologize for the earlier post about the family of H.E. Kalonzo Musyoka.
“This was a result of misinformation and a hoax from several players, some, seemingly credible and close to H.E. Kalonzo, who made it seem like a message to me about the family. People can be evil.
“My sincere apologies for any anxiety caused. Happily, all is well. God bless you,” Mutua wrote on his social media pages.