FALSE: This Facebook account bearing the name of Speaker Moses Wetang’ula is an imposter

The National Assembly Speaker has distanced himself from the page.

This Facebook page claiming to be that of the National Assembly Speaker Moses Wetang’ula and posting misinformation in his name is an imposter.

The page has made several posts including this one, claiming that Speaker Wetang’ula made a provocative statement against the Muslim community.

“It’s coming to the end 2022 and Muslims should also embrace technology and buy alarm clocks or set alarms on their classy phones. There is really no sense in appointing someone to be yelling at the whole estate at 4 am in the name of waking them up to go pray!” reads one of the posts published on the page.

The account that was created on 30th March 2022, has over 65K followers. 

But, does the account belong to Speaker Wetang’ula?

We checked Wetang’ula’s verified Twitter account for any information on the account we are debunking, but there was none.

Instead, we found a post distancing the speaker from the page we are fact-checking.

“My attention has been drawn to a post making rounds on social media using my name. Please note that the account being used to circulate the content is fake. I have alerted relevant authorities to look into the matter and take appropriate action,” he wrote on his official Twitter account.

Additionally, we checked Parliament’s verified Facebook and Twitter pages where news regarding the speaker and the house are shared, but there was no such account.

On Parliament’s Facebook page, we found a post announcing that Wetang’ula’s official Facebook account is Speaker Moses Masika Wetang’ula, E.G.H,MP, which is different from the one we are investigating.

The legitimate account was created on September 8, 2022, and has 2,263 followers. 

This fact check was published by SKY 106.1 FM with support from Code for Africa’s PesaCheck and African Fact-Checking Alliance.