This archive report was first published on 17 September 2019.
On September 17, 2019, The Standard newspaper ran a story claiming that ODM leader Raila Odinga refunded the nominations fees to its Kibra aspirants after the nominations were marred with irregularities. However, the ODM Party has come out to deny these claims, calling The Standard a purveyor of misinformation.
According to Judith Pareno, the Elections Board Chair, the consistent misinformation on The Standard is because the party disappointed its detractors by holding peaceful nominations, and now they want to discredit the process through negative publicity.
”For two consecutive days, The Standard newspaper has tried to sell the false narrative that ODM Party primaries held on September 7, 2019, were anything but free and fair,” Pareno said in a statement.
The party has clarified that only one aspirant was refunded his nomination fee because he withdrew from the race before the nominations took place. Pareno also stated that the entire exercise was smooth, free, and transparent, and was observed by the public and the media, including The Standard Group.
”The NEB wishes to affirm that barring isolated cases where there was a mix-up of names in 6 out of 180 polling stations (and these were addressed in a timely manner), the entire exercise was smooth, free and transparent and was observed by the public and the media – including the Standard Group,” Pareno added.
The party has accused its opponents of trying to crank up their campaigns in Kibra by spreading false information about the nominations. Pareno also stated that The Standard's consistent stories giving ODM negative publicity are sponsored content.
