Cambridge Analytica's Role in Uhuru's Election - David Murathe Explains

Jubilee vice-chairman David Murathe on Tuesday cleared the air on the role of Strategic Communication Laboratories (SCL), the parent company of Cambridge Analytica, in the 2017 General Election.

Murathe admitted that the party hired the company but only for branding purposes.

"They were basically branding and all that but not directly," he stated.

He, however, did not go into the details of how SCL did that and what impact it had in the 2017 election.

[caption caption="Jubilee Vice-Chairman David Murathe"][/caption]

The party's Secretary-General Raphael Tuju also shed light on the involvement of Cambridge Analytica in the elections noting that the whole issue "does not hold water".

“These things, the whole thing with Cambridge Analytica, don’t you think it is just far-fetched? It is very far-fetched,” he was quoted by the Nation.

In an undercover report, Cambridge Analytica MD Mark Turnbull was filmed admitting to running the 2013 and 2017 campaigns for President Uhuru 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.

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.

[caption caption="Jubilee Party Secretary General Raphael Tuju"][/caption]

Cambridge Analytica has, however, released a statement denying all allegations made by Channel 4 News adding that it was only gauging the reporters' motives.

Dennis Itumbi, Director of Digital Innovations and Diaspora Communications at the Office of the President, also refuted the claims noting that no one influenced the campaign.

Itumbi further maintained that President Kenyatta's campaign with his Deputy William Ruto was launched and run by young Kenyans.