Press Statement
Yesterday, a fake news leaflet with the Daily Nation masthead appeared in Busia headlined that Paul Otuoma, a candidate in the ODM gubernatorial primary being held on the day had defected.
Today, the real Daily Nation leads with the story headlined “NASA options in State House race revealed”. The story is based on a document reportedly prepared by the NASA technical team.
It is possible that such a document exists. However, whatever document the Daily Nation has seen has not been prepared by the NASA technical team. The Daily Nation did not seek to confirm the authenticity of the report with technical committee. Against the background of the Busia leaflet, we are surprised that the Daily Nation would lend credence to such a document without establishing its authenticity.
We understand the media’s hunger for sensational, attention grabbing information. Contrary to what the public has been made to expect, the committee’s work does not generate such information. The only way to feed this appetite would be to become purveyors of fake news ourselves. We are not going to do that.
David Ndii
for NASA Technical Team
Friday 14 April 2017
