Kenyans Voted the Ugliest In Africa? The Media Is Lying to You!
Kenyan’s voted the ugliest people in Africa?
So the Kenyan public has once again been subjected to a massive trolling by a major newspaper. The People daily, a free paper that’s handed out in the mornings as we sit in transit to work fuming over traffic, had on their second page an article stating that Kenya had the funniest looking people in Africa. This of course sparked outrage and debates as forums, twitter and Facebook . It’s understandable of course with quotes such as “Those from Kisii Districts are small people, the average Kenyan man will stop growing at 5’2″…5’4″ tops. Kisii men have mango shaped heads, and bowed legs, a feature also common in their Luhya counterparts.” The people Daily also boasts a wide distribution being free meaning that a lot of Kenyans read this and of course were angry at the poll results. However that’s not why they should be angry. They should be angry because they’ve been subjected to lie.
It may shock you that the entire thing is a hoax. In fact the article was probably created by a Kenyan, albeit a bitter one, obsessed with tribal stereotypes. There is in fact no Gregor Theater in Bloemfontein South Africa, institute of Primate Research at the University of St. Kenkley and the Annual Most Beautiful People of Africa Awards don’t even exist. Neither does the imaginary dignitary who apparently accepted the award on our part. His name should have provided the first clue, Ambassador Kinyesi, the Swahili word for feaces. In fact the awards have shown up at least two times before with not a single word changed. IN 2010, this wazua user asked for clarification if the awards exist and in 2012 this Ugandan website posted a copy of the awards. The wording hasn’t even changed from what the People Daily printed; they didn’t even try making it look different. Highly irresponsible in our opinion.
It’s frustrating that media agencies like NTV and MediaMax (publishers of the People) allow their reporters to go out and publish and broadcast such tripe without proper research. Even Ghafla , East Africa’s showbiz powerhouse failed to check their own archives when they heard the story. They had actually published it in 2012 and they did again in this year. Granted they do have do have a lot of articles going up day after day but a quick Google search actually brings up both their 2012 article and their 2014 one. Getting more people to read and watch your content may be important in the media industry but publishing lies as the gospel truth is just plain wrong. Besides, everyone knows that Kenya has an amazingly smart and beautiful population living within its borders. Saying that anyone thinks we don’t is stupid. Think we’re wrong? Prove it. Post links in the comment section to the Awards, the university or Ambassador Kinyesi’s profile and we’ll retract this statement. Until then don’t believe everything you read or watch, even if they claim to be from ‘reliable’ news sources.
Photo courtesy of Julia
