The Ministry of Foreign affairs has come under fire after tweeting a document that purported the United States Institute of Peace (USIP) was against opposition leader Raila Odinga’s decisions.
The document alleged that the National Super Alliance (NASA) leader, should desist from holding demonstrations and forming resistant movements which the Institute was against.
[caption caption="Ministry of Foreign Affairs"]
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The Institute of Peace condemned the office of Ambassador Amina Mohamed terming its actions as reckless and endangering the lives of foreign citizens in the country.
“The U.S. Institute of Peace learned today that a forged letter, purportedly from the Institute, is circulating on social media, containing commentary about the forthcoming national elections in Kenya,” the statement from USIP read.
“This fraudulent document is presented as a letter from former U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Johnnie Carson, who now serves as a senior advisor to USIP’s president. It misuses a copy of the USIP logo to give the appearance of having been written on the Institute’s letterhead,” the statement added.
USIP insisted that it never endorsed or opposed any political candidates or parties in any country. It further maintained that the Institute was founded and continues to operate as a strictly non-partisan institution.
The Organisation added that the convention's only involvement in elections was to assist countries in conducting polls peacefully.
USIP stated that it learned of the forged letter from news media inquiries, and thus also learned of recent coverage in prominent Kenyan news media of other forgeries circulating in connection with the coming election.
“While the Institute cannot prevent such abuses, it, of course, opposes the use of forged documents that can only complicate the holding of credible, peaceful elections in any country,” the statement concluded.
Foreign Affairs Ministry has since deleted the post from its Twitter account but is yet to issue an apology or a statement in regard to the fabricated document.
Read the document below:
[caption caption="The Forged document posted by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs"]
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