OCCRP, the program that recently ranked President William Ruto as the second most corrupt leader globally, has exposed troubling details about how Kenya’s 2022 general election was manipulated.
According to an undercover investigation by OCCRP, Team Jorge, a secret global political consulting group from Israel, influenced the election through hacking, spreading false information, and manipulating social media.
How was Dennis Itumbi Involved?
One of the main people the OCCRP mentioned in this scandal is Dennis Itumbi, a close advisor to Ruto and the communications director for his campaign.
Cyber operatives allegedly targeted Itumbi’s personal accounts, and they gained access to sensitive information, including internal polling data.
In one incident, OCCRP reports that a Team Jorge operative remotely sent a message from Itumbi’s phone via Telegram, which he quickly deleted to demonstrate his ability to manipulate the situation.
But, by mistake, the operative only deleted the message for the sender, which OCCRP clarified when the recipient confirmed they had received it.
The operatives accessed private messages and used the information to spread fake messages on social media, confusing voters and swaying their decisions.
This was part of a larger plan to manipulate public opinion and influence the election process.
The aim was to create a false narrative of widespread support for Ruto, while drowning out the opposition with a flood of fake news.
How much does OCCRP Charge to Sway Elections?
Team Jorge reportedly charges between $6 million to $15 million (Ksh776million to 1.9 billion) to influence an election, depending on the size of the campaign and the country involved.
They use various digital tools to manipulate the narrative, including fake social media accounts and bots to spread misleading messages.
These tactics went unnoticed by most people but apparently tend to have a big impact on the political landscape, distorting the election.
After President Ruto was declared the winner, the opposition tried to take this issue to court, claiming that the election had been tampered with through digital manipulation.
However, the case was dismissed.
The scale of Team Jorge’s involvement raises serious concerns about the fairness of the election and what this means for the future of democracy in Kenya and elsewhere.
