Governor Mutua dismisses arrest claims

Machakos Governor Alfred Mutua has not been arrested contrary to a fake news alert which trended on social media.

The governor’s press secretary, Mutinda Mwanzia said his boss was attending a requiem service of the late Sammy Mbova at St Austins Church in Nairobi when the fake alert circulated.

The deceased was an advisor to Mutua on matters of governance.

The alert insinuated that Mutua had been arrested by detectives from the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC) over corruption allegations.

“Machakos County governor, Alfred Mutua has been arrested by EACC over graft claims of purchase of county vehicles…he joins Evans Kidero who was arrested yesterday,” read one of the alerts disowned by Capital FM as fake news.

But in a swift rejoinder, Capital FM denied the alert had originated from them. “We have issued no such alert and that story is not on any of our platforms. Kindly stop attributing this false news to us,” the media house said in a tweet.

The fake alert caused anxiety across the county with members of the public, county employees and politicians making inquiries about the matter. But Mwanzia termed the alert as ‘outright malicious lie.’ “We have noted with concern the fake alert whose aim was to tarnish the name of Governor Mutua. We are calling upon relevant authorities to crack down on the perpetrators of such vile lies,” said Mwanzia.

Earlier, Dr Mutua had updated on his facebook wall picture of him with Makueni senator Mutula Kilonzo and Kibwezi West legislator, Patrick Musimba who also linked up with him at the memorial service.