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Alexandra Phillips, a British Member of the European Parliament has admitted that she secretly worked with President Kenyatta’s Jubilee Party during the 2017 general elections.
Philips, who was elected as a Member of the European Parliament for the South East England constituency in May 2019, was quoted by Channel 4 News saying that she was hired by British data-mining company Cambridge Analytica for the Kenya project.
She said she worked as a political communications consultant, where she was tasked with among other duties, writing Kenyatta's speeches.
"I wasn’t working for Jubilee I was employed by Cambridge Analytica who had the contract with Jubilee. I was brought on as a political communications consultant for the Kenya project," Channel 4 News quotes her as saying.
Ms. Phillips made the admission after months of denying that she worked for Cambridge Analytica. The data-mining company was on the spot over allegations of meddling in several elections across the world, including Kenya’s presidential poll in 2013 and 2017.
Phillips told Channel 4 News that her work was "so sensitive" that whenever she was asked what she was doing, she would say she was "an air hostess".
"I’d be writing the president’s [Kenyatta] speeches and his talking points for rallies and State House statements. I trained their communications team; they’re all sort of journalists who came together to create a press office. So I had to train them up and daily management of that communications team," she said.
Jubilee party in the past denied ever contracting Cambridge Analytica to help it in their campaigns but it admitted to hiring its (Cambridge Analytica) parent company Strategic Communications Laboratories to carry out some “branding” work.
"They were basically branding and all that but not directly," former Jubilee Vice Chairman David Murathe said.
In an undercover film broadcast on Channel 4 News last year, former Cambridge Analytica Managing Director Mark Turnbull confirmed that the company worked for Jubilee.
"We have rebranded the party (Jubilee) twice, we have written their manifesto, done two rounds of 50,000 surveys, huge amounts of analysis, research, messaging. Then we’d write all the speeches and we’d stage the whole thing so just about every element of his campaign," Turnbull said at the time.
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It is a sad day for Kenya knowing foreigners were tasked with doing sensitive work which should have been done by fellow Kenyans. When you have inept leaders without any form of creativity this is what you get; colonized minds. "Only wazungus can do it" attitude" what a shame!
Shit....what can we do without white people???....Oh I know,...wipe my ass
Despicable, what a shame that we still hold the mzungu as the god of Africa yet they were slave masters. Is it that their propaganda of them being better than us still play in our minds?. What a shame!
The Kenyattas have always played a dirty game to Kenyans in collaboration with the UK since Jomo himself. Always have been puppets of the colonizers
I had a different take till I read posts by formely guest2,mugiguku,and 10x.I take was that they went for the best they could find at the price they were willing to pay.But when they started denying and Any association with Analytica,I realigned my thinking to those above. Yes why are you not coming out clean?This made me think that they expected abacklash from hiring Mzungu.
After all those speech claimed to have been written by this lady are not all that spectacular.
Iam sure if Jubilee had commissioned any secondary engish teach to write some of the speeches, they could not have been any less effective.In fact some would have been much better having ahome grown do the job.
Some of you may remember Raila ran to USA,and hired Dick Moris a washed up political strategist for his presidential campaign.Yes we still bow down to Mzungu after 50+ years of independence.Are we really independent from mzungu? Our actions seem to suggest otherwise. Where is made in Kenya,by Kenyans for Kenya?
Even in track and road races where we rule supreme,Mzungu is big behind the scenes. YesUnforutately we dont seem to have confidence in ourselves.Idont know why when SCIENCE says we can do it,and that we are equal to wazungus in every way. I guess we dont believe it...
STUOPID!
Why am I not surprised? As usual, in Uhurulogic, the White person knows best. Business? Bring in white people to manage. Hague trials? Bring in white people to represent you. KQ going down? Bring in a white person from retirement, if the white people charged with its recovery are not productive. Government not going well? Look for a white strategist. Kenyattalogic!
First drop yr pope who u worship or jesus from jerusalem then u will be taken seriously.Otherwise blacks wr F'D
and yet they have "universities" that churn out unpalatable butter, what a shame!!!!!!!!
After 50 years ??It's time for us Kenyan's to think deeply where we are heading. How can 50 million Kenyan's spend years and billions to study the English language, become lawyers, university lecturers, have PHD's, doctors, Accountants and all types of professionals and we cannot find one who can write a speech for our President to clearly state our needs and goals. Our leaders must find a foreigner ( former colonizer) to come and express our needs. After 50 years??
We are using the wrong language. Colonizers language. No wonder even our National Anthem, when translated into English is a foreign National Anthem and not the same as ours.
No matter how difficult it proves to be, we must leave the colonial language behind. We must start booing those political stammers who use English to talk to fellow Africans.
If all these years, our National Anthem is wrong, what other things are wrong.
It's time to demand respect for our languages from our leaders.
A President's speech being written by a foreigner is a shame not a sense of pride.
Kenyan's, stop worshipping Ceasar Borgia, the homosexual son of Alexander the great as Jesus Christ. Stop worshipping "so called white people ", they are not white, they are red ( They are Edormites from the Roman empire). Listen and learn from our black brothers in the west who have lived under them as slaves for 400 years - who are now going back to learn their Hebrew language. We must also go back to our languages and culture.
"Mzungu" country embassies in Nairobi are full of Kenyans lining up in droves hoping to be afforded the opportunity to migrate. We head to the west for education, medical care, job opportunities. Many so called "enlightened" Kenyans will make fun of their fellow man for "shrubbing" yet find it cute when a mzungu tries to speak in Kiswahili.
Most of those criticizing the speechwriter's relationship with Jubilee are doing so from the comfort of their homes in Mzungu countries. I dare say on this one, MkenyaHalisi is one of the few who has earned the right to criticize the relationship between Ms. Phillips and Jubilee government.
And so you are saying we should not criticize because we live in mzungu country because we left our dear Kenya because opportunity were aplenty, everything was kosher but we betrayed it ? . Even Mhalisi got his loot from Mzungu country to live in that comfort he is in now - so I honestly don't get your argument ****rolling eyes**
Isn't the premise of most arguments on this thread the over dependence on mzungu? We have failed in a myriad of ways and often turn to the west after we have "soiled" ourselves. The speech is one of many things that indicate dependence on the west. We are here because we can access better opportunities and services than back in Kenya. Period. Why the discomfort over a speech written by a mzungu while we depend on most things western in the first place?
WAIT, Cambridge Analytica? The same one that helped Jubilee rig elections. The same one that specifically targeted non-jubilee supporters and proppelled fake news distorting information? The same one that manipulated data in favor of Jubilee. Moto yao inakuja, for screwing up Kenya. Washindwe kabisa for putting Kenya in such an awkward state with a weak and corrupt government and dilapidated economy. It's so sad. The British are still screwing us, long after independence.
Negro still need mzungu to even convince their own people to vote for them ...we are sooo doomed!