Nairobi, Aug. 4 -- We are, on a continuous basis, fed fake news, propaganda, false and misleading narratives. You do well to maintain a healthy skepticism, and to fact-check as much as possible, just to make sense of what is going on.

Politicians create, and Kenyans fall for, propaganda for many reasons. In the main though, it is because of tribalism, confirmation bias, fear and survival. Humans naturally prefer their own group and distrust outsiders, as a safety mechanism. Every parent cautions their children against strangers.

People easily believe false information if it matches what they already think. That is why the stereotypes we have for each other in our tribes are so easily exploited to create fear.

In turn, fear makes people...