Tag Archive for: #FactCheck

Fact-check: SSPDF troops en route to DRC have not camped in Yei over reduction of upkeep money

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Barely a month after the South Sudan President dispatched  the South Sudan People’s Defence Forces (SSPDF)  enroute to the Democratic Republic of Congo on December 28, 2022, in Juba, information alleging their return to South Sudan ensued. However, the SSPDF spokesperson dismissed the claims of the troops’ return as false.

Writer: Ghai Aketch

South Sudan, in December 2022, said it would send SSPDF troops to the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) as part of the regional force battalion to protect civilians there. The DRC government, for decades, has been fighting the M23 group. The military confrontation there has caused instability the East Africa Community deems necessary to quell. 

However, a piece of information widely shared on Facebook on January 8, 2022, alleged that the troops have returned to South Sudan, and camped in Yei County, southwest of the capital. The Facebook page claimed that their return was due to corruption leading to a reduction of their upkeep money from $1,000 to $500 US dollars.

“#Breaking_News..!!

SSPDF return back from DRC over money scandal

JUBA – SSPDF contingent that was heading to DRC Congo for mutinying on the border have returned and established a defensive position in Yei waiting for anyone who will try to attack them. Source told Phow Radio FM.” The post claimed. 

“Each soldier is supposed to receive 1,000 USD as pocket money but the commander gave each soldier only 500 USD and as a result,  the force mutinied and returned to Yei where we surrounded ourselves with all the military equipment equipped for the mission,” the post quoted a source allegedly an army officer, as speaking. 

Screenshot of the post claiming return of the SSPDF troops to South Sudan

However, the SSPDF spokesperson General Lul Ruai Koang, confirmed to 211 Check on January 9 that the information circulating is false because the SSPDF forces are not yet in the DRC territory.

“Inaccurate information. They even didn’t enter Congo. They are currently processing their travel documents in Mundri East County, Western Equatoria State. Travel arrangements will start after securing their travel documents. They have not even received a penny, leave alone rejecting $ 500 USD.” Gen. Lul said in a Whatsapp reply.

After the logistical arrangements, the South Sudan contingents will join forces from Kenya, Burundi and Uganda as EAC regional forces to work on restoring political stability in the eastern part of the DRC according to the agreement. 

Conclusion

The return of the SSPDF troops to South Sudan is false. The SSPDF spokesperson Gen. Lul  Ruai confirmed that the peace-keeping force has not yet reached the DRC territory but is still in the South Sudan Western Equatoria State, preparing to enter after visa processing. 

This fact-check was published by 211 Check with support from Code for Africa’s PesaCheck and the African Fact-Checking Alliance.  

Fact-check: No, WHO is not considering failure to find a sexual partner as a disability

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Reports that the definition is going to change or that people who can’t find a partner will soon be considered disabled are not true.

Writer: Ochaya Jackson

A claim attributed to a report from WHO (World Health Organization) that failure to find a sexual partner is now categorized as a disability is false.

The report appeared to warn people to consider having sex or being labelled as disabled. The claim in the screenshot is being circulated on WhatsApp.

“Failure to find a sexual partner [is] now a disability,” reads the image document circulating on social media platforms. 

“It is either you have sex or you are considered disabled,” it added. 

The screenshot image of the document claim

Has the World Health Organisation (WHO) said anything of that sort?

The document is not genuine and there is no official release of a report by the World Health Organization labeling failure to find a sexual partner as a disability. However, according to WHO’s published statement in 2016 on sexual and reproductive health, its definition of infertility has not changed.

WHO as of 2020 defined infertility as “a disease of the male or female reproductive system defined by the failure to achieve a pregnancy after 12 months or more of regular unprotected sexual intercourse.”

Besides, the claim was fact-checked by Reuters news agency in 2021 and was found to be false, and a correspondent tweet by WHO in 2016 affirmed that the definition of infertility was not changed. 

AFP also fact-checked the claim in 2019 where it was found to be false. However, it cited the WHO representative in Kenya that time Rudi Eggers, who said the idea was sourced from WHO outdated policy document released in 2011 and was no longer existing online.

Conclusion

The WHO has not considered failure to have a sexual partner as a disability and there is no current policy consideration on labeling it as such.

This fact-check was published by 211 Check with support from Code for Africa’s PesaCheck and the African Fact-Checking Alliance.  

FALSE: Britain’s new Prime Minister is not from the Luo tribe of Kenya

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Rishi Sunak’s parents are both Hindu

Writer: PesaCheck

A tweet claiming that new British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak is from the Luo tribe of Kenya is FALSE.

The tweet reads: “Now Britain has elected a Luo Prime Minister, Just like US did. Next ni sisi from Mt Kenya [Next is we from Mt Kenya].”

On Monday, 24 October 2022, Sunak won the race, becoming the third United Kingdom Prime Minister in 2022, following the resignation of Liz Truss, who had replaced Boris Johnson in September.

Sunak had one competitor — House of Commons leader and former Defence minister Penny Mordaunt — who got 30 votes against the new premier’s 150.

While Sunak’s father was born in Kenya, he is not from the Luo tribe. The roots of the new British PM are in Punjab, India, from where his grandparents migrated to Kenya and Tanzania.

Sunak, a Hindu and former British Chancellor of the Exchequer, was born in 1980 in the port city of Southampton, United Kingdom. His father, Yashvir Sunak, was born in Kenya while his mother, Usha Sunak, was born in Tanzania. The parents were married in Southampton, where they had migrated in the 1960s.

PesaCheck has looked into a tweet claiming that Britain’s new Prime Minister Rishi Sunak is from the Luo tribe of Kenya and finds it to be FALSE.

This post is part of an ongoing series of PesaCheck fact-checks examining content marked as potential misinformation on Facebook and other social media platforms.

FALSE: Video not of Raila Odinga saying he’ll take President Ruto back to the ICC

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The Azimio la Umoja-One Kenya Coalition leader does not mention ICC anywhere in the video.

Writer: PesaCheck

A video shared on Facebook with text claiming that former Kenyan Prime Minister Raila Odinga has said he will take President William Ruto back to the International Criminal Court (ICC) is FALSE.

Shared on 21 November 2022, the recording claims that Odinga said Ruto stole his votes, and as such he will return him to The Hague-based court.

“Raila anasema atarudisha Ruto ICC kwa kuiba kura zake [Raila says he will take Ruto back to the ICC for stealing his votes],” the text accompanying the video reads.

Ruto was among six Kenyans prosecuted at the ICC following the December 2007 general election violence in which over 1,000 people died. He and five others were accused of committing crimes against humanity.

The president’s case was, however, thrown out in April 2016, for lack of sufficient evidence.

Did Odinga say he will take Ruto back to the ICC? We reviewed the entire video and established that the text accompanying it is clickbait.

In the address, the opposition leader tackles the cost of living, accusing the president of failing to fulfil his campaign promises of reducing the cost of fuel and maize flour.

Odinga, whose Orange Democratic Movement party is a member of the Azimio coalition, also criticised Ruto for his foreign trips that cost millions of taxpayers’ money “yet Kenyans are suffering”.

The opposition leader also weighed in on the importation of genetically modified foods, stating that Ruto should not have lifted the ban imposed during the late Mwai Kibaki’s presidency.

We did a keyword search on YouTube to establish whether there is any recent video of Odinga addressing the ICC issue, but the results were negative.

PesaCheck has looked into a video shared on Facebook with the text claiming that former Prime Minister Raila Odinga has said he will take President William Ruto back to the International Criminal Court (ICC) at The Hague and finds it to be FALSE.

This post is part of an ongoing series of PesaCheck fact-checks examining content marked as potential misinformation on Facebook and other social media platforms.

FALSE HEADLINE: DP Rigathi Gachagua does not say in the video that Raila Odinga will be arrested

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In the video, the DP takes a swipe at Odinga for his handshake with former President Uhuru Kenyatta in March 2018.

A video shared on Facebook claiming to show Kenyan Deputy President (DP) Rigathi Gachagua saying they will arrest former Prime Minister Raila Odinga has a FALSE HEADLINE.

The video, which was shared online on 5 November 2022, is accompanied by a text claiming Gachagua said they’ll arrest Odinga and send him to Kamiti (Maximum Prison) so that he can “respect” President William Ruto’s administration.

“Tutashika huyu Raila Odinga tufungie yeye Kamiti second time ndo ajue Ruto ndo rais na ndi atuheshimu. [We’ll arrest Raila Odinga and jail him at Kamiti for the second time so that he knows Ruto is the president and respects us],” the text reads.

The video was taken when the second-in-command visited Kajiado County to oversee the distribution of relief food in the area.

We reviewed the entire video and established that the deputy president does not say anything about arresting Odinga anywhere in the footage.

In the clip, the DP takes a swipe at Odinga for his handshake with former President Uhuru Kenyatta in March 2018. Gachagua blamed the economic challenges facing the country on the handshake.

“Wewe mzee wa [You man of ] opposition, you were a co-president to Uhuru Kenyatta. All those things you are telling us to do, you had five years with Uhuru Kenyatta to do those things and did not do them,” the DP said.

The handshake, according to Gachagua, weakened the opposition and gave the Kenyatta government powers to do whatever it wanted without being checked.

We performed a keyword search on YouTube and found a video of the DP’s full address and established that at no point does he make any remarks about arresting the Azimio la Umoja-One Kenya leader.

PesaCheck has examined a video shared on Facebook claiming to show Deputy President (DP) Rigathi Gachagua saying they will arrest former Prime Minister Raila Odinga and finds it to have a FALSE HEADLINE.

This post is part of an ongoing series of PesaCheck fact-checks examining content marked as potential misinformation on Facebook and other social media platforms.

Fact-check: An alleged fight at the SPLM House over President Kiir’s resignation is false

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After the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement (SPLM) convention on December 6, a Facebook page published a post claiming a fight erupted within the party over President Kiir’s decision to resign, a statement the party’s Secretary General rubbished as fake news. 

Writer: Ghai Aketch

Following the SPLM convention this month, a widely shared claim about a fight at the SPLM House emerged on Facebook. It stated that President Salva Kiir, also SPLM Chairperson, proposed to resign, but the party members were divided over the matter.

SPLM is South Sudan’s ruling party that waged the liberation war against the Khartoum-based regime in the 1980s. And it eventually led the country to independence on July 9, 2011.

But later, after the independence, the mother-party splitted due to power wrangles. Some high-ranking officials in the party opted out to form; SPLM – In Opposition, Real SPLM, FDs, SSUF, and others.

Above is the screenshot of the post alleging fight at the SPLM House

“FIGHTING ERUPTS INSIDE SPLM HOUSE; RIGHT NOW!

We received reports that there is ongoing fighting at the SPLM HOUSE between members of the SPLM after President Salva Kiir has threatened to RESIGN in the next upcoming days.

“You people, I have given you everything. I have allowed you to do as you please but you always bring me shame. I will retire Dr. Riek Machar Teny and I will resign so you can continue to fight yourselves. You will come to look for me because you cannot handle running the country.” Said President Salva Kiir,” the page claims.

But did a fight happen at the SPLM house? The claim was looked at by 211 Check:

However, Peter Lam, the SPLM Secretary General, rubbished the claim when contacted to comment on this alleged fighting within the party.

“All fake news from some people. Thank you for letting me know. They can’t believe that SPLM can come together in unity again.” He told 211 Check, in a written WhatsApp reply.

There is no established and credible media reporting on the aforementioned fight, nor are video footages or images in circulation, as there could always be.

Conclusion:

We conclude that there was no fighting that erupted at the SPLM House. The party’s Secretary General dismissed the report as false. Additionally, according to the party official, President Kiir never threatened his party members to resign as the President of South Sudan. 

This fact-check was published by 211 Check with support from Code for Africa’s PesaCheck and the African Fact-Checking Alliance.  

Fact-check: This Ministry of Agriculture Facebook page soliciting grant applications is a scam.

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This page poses as the Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security, gathering personal and business information via a Google Form that could be used to commit cybercrime against the victims.

Writer: Ochaya Jackson

A Facebook post by a page purporting to be the Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security – South Sudan making rounds online about financial support for smallholder agricultural producers is false.

The claim, which called for an “application of interest for grant” from farmers, agribusiness and business enterprises, charged that the move is in partnership with the international fund for agricultural development and farmers’ business network, which targets ten thousand smallholder farmers, women households and youth whose lives rely on farming.

“The Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security is inviting Farmers, Agribusinesses and Business Development Enterprises with good business linkages to smallholder agricultural producers and processors to offer them financial support,” part of the application post on December 12th, 2022 reads which directed applicants to apply using uniform resource locator or URL.

“We are in partnership with [the] International Fund for Agricultural Development and Farmers Business Network to help us fight hunger and poverty. Ten thousand smallholder farmers, including women-headed households and young people whose livelihoods depend on Farming, are also to be part of this program,” the application post adds an accompanying picture of six individuals perhaps taken in a meeting.

The screenshot of a scam Facebook post

The application URL, which the claim directs applicants to apply through when clicked, takes to a Google-designed document form with three sections. 

The first section presents questionnaires to collect personal information (name, email, contacts and so on), the second section gathers agricultural farming details, and the third one requires financial support input where one puts the amount of money he or she wants, and selects an option for the use of the money then submit it.

The screenshot of the Google doc form for the fraud grant

The International Fund for Agricultural Development and Farmers Business Network, which the post claimed the Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security – South Sudan is in partnership with to offer the grant, is non-existing. This was after a keyword search on [International Fund for Agriculture Development and Farmers Business Network] was performed on the Google search engine. There only exists Farmers Business Network | FBN, which helps family farmers maximise their farm’s profit potential by leveraging technology to reduce the cost of production and maximise the value of crops.

However, the claim appeared to impersonate the International Fund for Agricultural Development, a specialised agency of the United Nations, founded in 1974 after the world food conference. In addition, there needs to be more information about grant offers and partnerships with the Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security of South Sudan to assist farmers and other agribusiness entities on its website.

South Sudan’s government institution, the Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security, does not have an official Facebook page or a website; the page being run in its name is managed by fraudsters.

Conclusion:

The claim that the Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security is providing grants to farmers and other agribusiness entities in conjunction with the international fund for agricultural development and farmers’ business network is false.

This fact-check was published by 211 Check with support from Code for Africa’s PesaCheck and the African Fact-Checking Alliance.  

Fact-check: International Education for Global Minds scholarship for South Sudanese is a scam

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The page is part of at least two others (there could be more) that use the promise of a scholarship to get South Sudanese to give up personal information like IDs and academic credentials, as well as money.

Writer: Modi Moses Eyobo

A Facebook page post that has been shared and forwarded widely in WhatsApp groups about a scholarship offer to Sudanese and South Sudanese is false. 

The post sought to ask South Sudanese, and Sudanese senior four leavers who scored 65% and above as well as graduates who are looking for jobs or else want to further their education to contact an MTN Ugandan number for any assistance on the matter.

Screenshot of the Facebook page post

The page and its posts looked suspcious and then 211 Check mounted an investigation.

It appeared that a similar scam was debunked by 211 Check earlier in 2021 which was found to be a hoax. At the time, it was known as “Madam Atong Foundation,” but it was later renamed “Mudam Atong Foundationn.”

The helpline telephone number provided for in the claim for assistance is registered by a Uganda-based subscriber named Ivan Mukisa, when verified using MTN Uganda Mobile Money. 

The screenshot of the MTN Mobile money transaction

When the number was verified on WhatsApp to determine whether the number was for official use by the organization, what turned out more suspicious was the individual picture on the WhatsApp status instead of the organization logo.

Besides, a reverse image search of the WhatsApp picture was run on Yandex search engine and it appeared to be associated with the Twitter handles of several users which include Getrud Kei, Prophet Frank Mo1, GAM-20, Spiritual Man, Rich Hingi, and Ray Kanungu. And all of them never tweeted anything related to the International Education for Global Minds.

The same email address [[email protected]] used for the debunked Mama Atong Foundation was recycled again for the International Education for Global Mind scholarship.

When 211 Check engaged the number on WhatsApp conversations to extract email that could be used to share documents for the scholarship, here is how it went.

The screenshot of the WhatsApp conversations

And even the photos accompanying the claim on Facebook don’t match any event related to the International Education for Minds scholarship when verified using both the Google lens search, and Yandex image search.

We also found out that there are three of these pages that talk about the same scholarship offer and use the same email ([email protected]) and WhatsApp number (+256770671123) so interested applicants can contact them. 

“International Education For Global Minds,” “Mudam Atong Foundationn,” and “South Sudanese scholarships 2021_2025” are the names of these three related Facebook pages.

Information about transparency shows that these pages were made between July 2020 and May 2021 and managed from Uganda.

What is the International Education for Global Minds?

According to a Google search, the International Education for Global Minds is a leading university representative and educational consultant that recruits students from Germany and Austria for universities around the world. IEC began operations in Germany in 2001.

More information about their services can be found on their website and LinkedIn profile. There have been no updates on their platforms indicating that they are offering scholarships to South Sudanese and Sudanese students.

Conclusion:

A viral post on a Facebook page named International Education for global minds and shared on WhatsApp alleging they offer Sudanese and South Sudanese scholarships is a hoax.

 This fact-check was published as part of an assignment for the Empowering Fact-checking in South Sudan (EFiSS) Training Program by 211 Check.

Fact-check: Did President Salva Kiir say ‘he has failed’ the country as a leader?

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Writer: Ghai Aketch 

South Sudan’s President Salva Kiir, after making his speech at the convention of the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement (SPLM) National Liberation Council following the party’s endorsement to run for the presidency in 2025, was quoted by Sixty 4 Tribes Press as saying he ‘has failed the country as a leader for the 20 years he has been in power and he cannot stop the ongoing violence in Upper Nile region.’ 

“I CANNOT STOP THE WAR IN SOUTH SUDAN. 

I have failed as a leader and a ruling President for the last 20 years that I have been in Power, I have failed my people and my country. I don’t know how to stop this war. I don’t know what is happening, I don’t trust my appointed staff because they are always going behind my back to participate in crimes,” the Facebook page attributed the quote to  President Kiir. 

Screenshot of the Facebook post as shared by Sixty 4 Tribes Press

But did the President say that in his address aired by the national broadcaster, SSBC, on December 6?

No, in the full audio reviewed by 211 Check, the South Sudanese leader didn’t say these words attributed to him.

Additionally, Kiir has not been in power for 20 years, as the page claims. He succeeded Dr. John Garang, who died in a helicopter crash in 2005, as the SPLM chairperson. That makes 17 years as the SPLM party leader from 2005 and the president as of 2011 to date. 

President Kiir was formally handed the power as an elected president of the Republic of  South Sudan on July 9, 2011, when the country attained independence from Sudan.

Moreover, the Office of the President made a press statement shortly later for clarification, saying the media houses misquoted the president. 

“While deploring the sub-national violence in the Upper Nile Region that is taking tolls on innocent civilians, the president said he cannot stop it alone. Some media houses took this statement out of context by insinuating that the president has taken his hands off this issue,” reads part of the presidential press statement. 

Conclusion: 

Our verification of the president’s speech audio and searches from the available information conclude that President Kiir did not say he has ‘failed’ as a leader. And that he ‘cannot stop the violence in the country.’ These quotes attributed to him are false and altered. 


This fact check was published by 211 Check with support from Code for Africa’s PesaCheck and the African Fact-Checking Alliance. 

Blog: The need for disability-inclusive tools to combat online disinformation

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Despite many fact-checking tools, online journalism must embrace inclusion. This requires inclusive digital security training for digital news companies and accessible fact-checking tools.

Writer: Nancy Marangu

The evolution of social media platforms has changed the dichotomy in which information is received and disseminated over time.

As a platform enabler, the internet has given birth to digital, also known as online journalism, which allows everyone to share information quickly. Digital journalism, a modern form of reporting in which editorial content is distributed via the internet, is continuing to transform journalism.

While we appreciate the rapid distribution of content, we must remember that fake news and misinformation continue to affect everyone, mainly persons with disabilities (PWDs). As a result, interventions for PWDs are required so that they can benefit equally from objective and accurate information.

As a result, it is necessary to:

To begin, news organisations must ensure that inclusive media verification tools are accessible and usable by people with disabilities during content distribution. This is because news organisations and digital platforms play a significant role in news distribution control and managing digital journalism collaboratively. This implies that information distributors can be as creative as possible in providing messages in various forms, including speech, while maintaining accessible websites.

Second, NewsCheck is being integrated into the information distribution platform. NewsCheck uses blockchain technology to provide credible scoring on information posted on various social media platforms. This necessitates that news organisations develop accessibility applications that PWDs can easily use to identify disinformation and investigate mechanisms for correcting false information.

Third, while using institutionally accessible websites, news organisations can incorporate Adblock Plus, a browser extension and application that blocks advertisements and websites via filtering lists. The filtering list protects users from malicious and disinformation-spreading websites.

Finally, according to Rand Corporation, 2022, Bot Sentinel is a platform designed to detect and track troll bots and untrustworthy Twitter accounts. Bot Sentinel analyses Twitter accounts, classifies information as trustworthy or untrustworthy and identifies bots using machine learning and artificial intelligence. Developers use the data they collect to investigate the impact of bots and their propaganda on discourse, as well as ways to combat the spread of bots and the information they spread. Untrustworthy accounts must be classified manually. Hundreds of tweets and retweets are reviewed during the review process. They may label an account untrustworthy if it has many followers and a high percentage of misleading and/or factually incorrect tweets. However, it is essential to note that most digital journalists share information on their Twitter platforms. While information is distributed, it is unfortunate that the owners of the companies conduct little or no continuous research to determine the population segments that access information through their platforms.

In conclusion, while there are many more fact-checking tools available, the need for online journalism to incorporate inclusion is critical. Moving forward, this will necessitate more inclusive digital security training for digital news organisations and intentional innovation in information fact-checking tools accessible and usable by people with disabilities.


This blog article was published as part of an assignment for the Empowering Fact-checking in South Sudan (EFiSS) Training Program by 211 Check.