Jalang’o lifts lid on ‘fake’ funeral WhatsApp groups
Media personality Felix Odiwuor, popularly known as Jalang’o, has shared some of the not-so-pleasant experiences from the political campaign trail.
In an interview with blogger Robert Alai on the Audit show, Jalang’o a, celebrated talk show host and radio presenter, explained the lengths to which Kenyans go to so as to make money from politicians.
These include starting ‘fake funeral’ whatsapp groups
“Unless something changes, we will have leaders whom when they get into Parliament, they will try and recoup everything (all the money) they spent on the campaign trail,” explained Jalang’o, who is eyeing the Lang’ata parliamentary seat.
“A typical example (is) a group of young men (who) create a WhatsApp group, write names and create a list of contributions of a funeral, an alleged funeral. Then they include a list of a few waheshimiwas (politicians) who have supposedly contributed. This puts pressure to also contribute not knowing it is a stage-managed funeral.
Jalang’o adds that most politicians are viewed by the public as cash cows.
“The Kenyan voter breeds thieves. All problems are directed at politicians, things people can solve (are directed at politicians), and I am saying small issues that mean there is money every each and single day.”
Jalang’o’s submission is similar to that of former Speaker of Uganda Parliament Rebecca Kadaga, who once explained that people would flood his Kampala office with requests, most of which turned out to be fake.
“Someone would come and say he has lost his mother or aunt, when I ask my aide to escort him and buying him a coffin for example, they would disappear into thin air,” she explained in an interview with NBS TV.