A new report has revealed an online campaign targeting former Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua ahead of the 2027 General Election.
According to the Detecting and Countering Misuse of AI 2026 report by Anthropic, published on September 10, a Kenyan operator has been using Claude to generate political posts targeting political figures.
Anthropic reported that the online campaign used coordinated social media posts to promote political narratives in the country by supplying Claude with specific political topics, talking points, and hashtags, instructing it to turn them into social media posts.
According to the report, the operator used Claude to produce posts in batches of 50, formatted for cross-platform publishing.
Some sessions also packaged the material into interactive copy-and-paste formats, making the posts easier to deploy.
How the Online Campaign Targeted Gachagua and Uhuru
The operator targeted Rigathi Gachagua and Uhuru Kenyatta, promoting claims that Kenya’s United Opposition coalition was breaking apart.
“The network pushed stories claiming that Kenya’s United Opposition coalition was breaking apart before the 2027 general election, directly targeting politicians Rigathi Gachagua and former president Uhuru Kenyatta,” part of the report read.
Rigathi Gachagua has previously been the subject of misleading and fabricated content online. In August 2026, a fabricated article circulated on social media alleging that Gachagua sabotaged Kenya’s tourism sector.
In another case, the IEBC responded to claims circulating on social and mainstream media after Gachagua made statements about the electoral agency tender manipulation.
On the other hand, the office of the former President in January 2026 issued a warning over false social-media posts that purported to communicate his views or positions.
The warning came amid what the office described as misleading content being attributed to the retired President meeting with former Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua and other Mt Kenya leaders.
In a separate case, a fake video emerged in which the former president said Uhuru was launching a financial platform capable of generating KSh500,000.
Also Read: IEBC Fires Back at Gachagua Over Claims of Secret Tender Ahead of 2027 Election
Pro-Government Support
At the same time, the Anthropic report exposed a campaign designed to praise Energy Cabinet Secretary Opiyo Wandayi.
CS Wandayi received support from the operator over a planned Kenya Power electricity tariff increase in the country.
According to Anthropic, the posts praised the Cabinet Secretary and promoted hashtags including #PowerReliefKE and #PoweringTheNewKenya to boost visibility.
“A large portion of the AI-generated tweets praised Energy Cabinet Secretary Opiyo Wandayi for stopping a scheduled Kenya Power electricity tariff hike, using the hashtags #PowerReliefKE and #PoweringTheNewKenya to boost visibility,” the Anthropic report stated.
The report also stated that the operator used a single coordinated playbook that boosted a government-aligned figure while undermining opposition members.
Also Read: Gachagua’s DCP Opens 2027 Nomination Registration, Announces Aspirant Fees
Anthropic Findings on the Fake Online Campaign
Anthropic identified and removed the account, which it said it detected because of the mass production of similar posts.
Separately, the operator was linked to the identical AI workflow for Kenyan retail brands under a marketing persona, “SHANKI”/“Elkins Marketer,” which the report argues has no connection to the government.
However, the report clarified that the activity of the operator was isolated to the network of fake accounts and local influencers on a single platform, failing to reach or influence the public.
Further, using the Breakout Scale, the impact of the campaign was classified as a Category One.
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