Ignore these ‘polling figures’ on the popularity of Kenya's possible presidential contenders — they didn’t really come from IPSOS

One of the misleading posts, which we’ve archived here, was published on the public Facebook group Kenya Political Forum which has more than a million members. The post attracted more than 100 comments and reactions.

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Screenshot taken on July 3, 2019 of a Facebook post that used the fake polling data

The bogus popularity ratings, captured in a graphical presentation that includes the IPSOS logo, implied that Kenya's Deputy President William Ruto was the most preferred candidate followed by Nairobi Governor Mike Sonko.

The graphic also gives invented popularity ratings for three other prominent political figures: former vice presidents Musalia Mudavadi and Kalonzo Musyoka, and Gideon Moi, a senator who is the son of Kenya’s second president.

Of the five of them, so far only Ruto has publicly indicated that he intends to run for president in 2022.

The website Kenya Top Secrets published an article based on the supposed survey, while other posts carrying the fake IPSOS graphic can be found here and here.

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Screenshot taken on July 3, 2019 of an article based on the fake polling data

However, no such polling data is available on the IPSOS website, and the company confirmed in a tweet on July 3, 2019 that it had released no such survey.

“Ipsos has not released  any poll on the popularity of presidential aspirants. The poll on social media is a FAKE poll,” the tweet from the French company’s Kenyan branch reads.

Ipsos has not released any poll on popularity of presidential aspirants. The poll on social media is a FAKE poll.

— Ipsos Kenya (@IpsosKe) July 3, 2019

The Twitter account, @IpsosKE, is linked to from the company’s official website.

Kenyatta was sworn in for his second and final term in November 2017 and politicians are already discussing who might succeed him when he steps down in 2022.

However, Kenyatta has steered away from the topic of his succession in public and angrily called on colleagues to stop politicking and focus on development instead.