• A post on twitter alleging to be by Narok Senator Ledama Olekina purporting that he has joined Deputy President William Ruto’s camp is false.
• The Star has established that the tweet was posted through a fake account.
A post on twitter alleging to be by Narok Senator Ledama Olekina purporting that he has joined Deputy President William Ruto’s camp is false.
The Star has established that the tweet was posted on a fake account https://twitter.com/ledamaIekina/status/1270860605801496583
The account that has since been deleted had been designed in a manner that it looks exactly as the Senator’s official account.
The tweet was posted on June 11 at 2:29 am and read;
“A new dawn has come! I have finally made my decision to support the incoming 5th President of the Republic of Kenya H.E William Ruto. The hustler’s nation is indeed unstoppable”.
Within hours, the tweet had been retweeted more than 340 times with over 1.6K likes.
The Star investigated the account and established that it was created in January 2020 with 12.5k followers.
FINDINGS.
The Senator’s official Twitter account has a following of 198.3K and he follows 3,050 people.
On this account, the senator joined twitter in April 2014 as opposed to Jan 2020.
We reached out to the Senator who admitted to have seen the tweet.
"I have seen it and it is a fake tweet. The person who did this used a small 'L'. It is the work of my detractors," Ledama said.
Please note that the following is a FAKE account. The fraudsters thought they are very cleaver. They used a capital I in place of an L. So when you look at the handle you think it’s the real one! We will deal with them today! compare with the real account below pic.twitter.com/LmmGN4MBqF
— Sen. Ledama Olekina (@ledamalekina) June 11, 2020
The last tweet by the senator was 19 hours where he commended ODM leader Raila Odinga for welcoming Hon Sarah Lekorer.
“We are focused on the unity of the Maa Nation. We thank Raila Odinga for welcoming Hon. Sarah Lekorer back home,” his tweet read.
Olekina was elected on an Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) ticket in the August 8, 2017, general elections.
The Senator had been at cross-roads with the party leadership after he was de-whipped from the committees following his election as the chairman of the influential CPAIC.
The senator reportedly went against the party position which had preserved the seat for Kisii Senator Sam Ongeri.
He teamed up with a section of senators in the committee to win the chairmanship of the committee.
The move rattled the ODM party with Minority Leader James Orengo protesting the manner in which the election was held.
“I express and register dissatisfaction with the conduct and outcome of the election of the leadership of the County Public Accounts and Investments Committee, which were purportedly done," Orengo said.
“We intend to withdraw our membership from the said committee until an appropriate resolution can be made."
But Olekina protested the ouster and went to court to get his set back.
“Some people don’t want me to chair this committee but I want to say that I have been democratically elected and will serve my country in this position,” Ole Kina had told the Star.
The high court has temporarily barred the Speaker of the Senate from removing Senator Ledama Olekina from the position of Chairperson County Public Accounts and Investments Committee.
In the case, Ledama through lawyer Nelson Havi, argued that he had been validly elected as a member of the Minority Party in the Senate and without notice to him as required by standing orders.
However, after a meeting with party leader Raila Odinga, the decision to strike him from the committee was reversed.
The two met at the former prime minister's home in Karen alongside a group of elders from the Maa community.
In the deal, the vocal senator agreed to withdraw the case he filed against the party after he was removed from the chairmanship of the County Public Accounts and Investments Committee (CPAIC).
“Senator @ledamalekina has this morning agreed to withdraw the case he filed against @theODM party over the senate public accounts committee chairmanship, surrendered the seat and apologised,” Raila tweeted.
“In return, I have instructed the party to reverse the decision to de-whip the senator.”