Political analysts Dismas Mokua and Javas Bigambo during an interview on Spice FM. [Screengrab]
Political analysts have warned that misinformation and disinformation could distort Kenya’s 2027 General Election by pushing voters to choose leaders based on emotion rather than facts.
Speaking on Spice FM on Wednesday, political risk analyst Dismas Mokua warned that failure to tackle false information could compromise the election.
“If we do not fight misinformation and disinformation, then we are going to compromise next year’s election. We are not going to elect leaders based on material facts but because of emotion,” said Mokua.
He also called on state officials to rely on public services to ensure government policies work for everyone, citing the Social Health Authority (SHA) as an example.
“To make sure public facilities work 100 per cent, then state officers should have a limitation not to use private facilities so that the policies you are talking about apply to them too,” Mokua proposed.
He explained that the approach would force officials responsible for making policies to experience the services they want Kenyans to use.
Political analyst Javas Bigambo linked the debate to what he described as a period when political interests can override facts.
“Rigathi has led us to realisations that we are living in a period of truth decay, a time of post-truth where alternatives are being sought and pursued for political reasons, and reality being discarded or ignored,” observed Bigambo.
Bigambo was referring to former Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua’s speech on the Kenya Kwanza administration’s record.
“If my opinion were sought to rate the implementation of the Bottom-Up Economic Transformation Agenda by William Ruto, I would place it at 71 per cent with facts and data to back this up,” he noted.
Mokua also argued that some officials appointed by President William Ruto to implement his policies had failed him.
“Either by acts of omission or commission, the people that he has given the responsibility have let him down,” he said.
He added that Ruto has the authority to remove officials who fail to implement his administration’s policies.
Mokua said the president has three main responsibilities: maintaining political stability, economic stability and security stability.
He credited Ruto with maintaining stability in the three areas compared with challenges facing other African countries.