British public-service television broadcaster Channel 4 on Monday exposed the role Cambridge Analytica played in President Uhuru Kenyatta's campaigns.
In an undercover report, Managing Director Cambridge Analytica Mark Turnbull is filmed admitting to running the 2013 and 2017 campaigns for Kenyatta.
“We have rebranded the entire party twice, written the manifesto, done research, analysis, messaging. I think we wrote all the speeches and we staged the whole thing - so just about every element of this candidate,” he states in the secretly recorded video.
In 2013, Uhuru successfully ran for the presidency under the Party of National Alliance (TNA) which later rebranded to Jubilee before the 2017 elections - a merger between its affiliate parties including DP William Ruto's United Republican Party (URP).
[caption caption="Jubilee campaigns in 2017"]
[/caption]
Turnbull is further captured stating: "It is no good running an election campaign based on facts, it is all about emotions."
The news report indicated that the controversial firm was behind a spate of propaganda driven reports against NASA leader Raila Odinga during the 2017 polls.
Cambridge Analytica has, however, released a statement denying all allegations made by Channel 4 News adding that it was only gauging the reporters' motives.
"Our CEO had misjudged the situation. I must emphatically state that Cambridge Analytica does not condone or engage in entrapment, bribes or so-called ‘honeytraps’, and nor does it use untrue material for any purpose,” the group stated.
Earlier on Friday, Facebook announced the suspension of several accounts including Strategic Communication Laboratories, which is the company in-charge of Cambridge Analytica.
The suspension was issued because Cambridge Analytica allegedly received data from thousands of users in a way that violated Facebook’s guidelines.
Here is the video:
“It’s no good fighting an election campaign on the facts because actually it’s all about emotion”
EXCLUSIVE: Senior Cambridge Analytica figures say they targeted voter's unspoken hopes and fears to help win elections. #CambridgeAnalyticaUncovered pic.twitter.com/SNtt8X0jor— Channel 4 News (@Channel4News) March 19, 2018
