Raila falls for fake news on Joho after goof by his adviser
Former Special Programmes PS Andrew Mondoh may have misled ODM leader Raila Odinga to respond to a fake letter ‘authored’ by the Kenya Wildlife Service, summoning Mombasa Governor Hassan Joho to explain the genesis of his ‘Simba’ nickname.
It what could, otherwise, compound the troubles the Mombasa Governor is facing, someone skillfully created a letter from on a KWS letterhead purportedly addressed to Mr Joho, asking him to report to the agency’s offices on Wednesday at 2pm.
The letter does not specify which KWS offices he was to report to, considering the conservation organisation has offices around the country.
TROUBLES HAD DEEPENED
At an event to meet with Bunge La Mwananchi officials at Orange House, Mr Mondoh, now adviser to the ODM leader, rushed to indicate to the former Premier that Mr Joho’s troubles had deepened.
“This is stupid. It is rubbish!” The former Premier quipped after looking at the letter.
“This shows that Jubilee have panicked.”
However, everything about the letter is fake. The logo of the document in circulation did not have the slanted words ‘World Class Parks’ as is found on its current genuine logo.
The letterhead also did not even have a website address and neither did it have a physical address as KWS letters and statements often do.
KWS Paul Mbugua told Nairobi News that the alleged author of the letter does not exist at the Service.
At the event, Mr Odinga accused President Uhuru Kenyatta of having a hand in the legal battles facing Mr Joho.
Mr Odinga claimed the President was abusing his powers by threatening to deal with Joho, a deputy party leader in ODM.
ABUSE OF POWER
“We are not going to tolerate presidential abuse of power. We are telling the President to remember where we are all coming from,” he said.
Mr Joho who is seeking to defend the influential Mombasa County has recently run into trouble with authorities over the authenticity of his academic papers.
On Monday, Directorate of Criminal Investigations summoned him to record a statement on how he obtained a controversial exam result slip from the Kenya National Examinations Council.
Though the police argue they are investigating Joho as a person rather than curtail hos political ambitions, these incident also followed Joho’s publoc altercation with the President who in turn promised to deal with the Governor for frustrating national development projects in Mombasa.
POLITICALLY MOTIVATED
On Tuesday, Joho claimed his troubles that have also included freezing his financial accounts as well as questioning his business tax records, are politically motivated.
The ODM leader too defended his man, saying the government was fomenting disturbance.
“We want peace. Elections should not be war…one will win, another will lose but Kenya will move forward…”
