Tag Archive for: #FactsMatter

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.

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: 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.

Fact-check: Be aware the Ministry of Finance is not calling for grant applications 

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The Ministry of Finance has confirmed to 211 Check and cautioned online users that a Facebook page calling for grant applications is fake. Previously 211 Check warned of similar hoaxes targeting the netizens in South Sudan.

Writer: Ghai Aketch

Several fake calls for grant applications have been targeting unsuspecting South Sudanese lately in an attempt to collect important data or even exhort money.

This Facebook hoax purporting the Ministry of Finance shared on December 7 claims it is offering $350M as funding from international organisations geared towards agriculture and trade improvement in South Sudan. But that information is false.

“Applications are still ongoing following the grant worth $350M we received from the International Monetary Fund, International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), and the Global Entrepreneurship Network. This program is targeted to boost trade, investment and agriculture,” the false claim reads in part.

Screenshot of the post shared on 7th December

The transparency section of the imposter page states that it was created on 7th December 

Additionally, the link directs applicants to a Google form to fill in their personal data.

211 Check called the Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning and looked at the digital platforms for USAID to find out if this call for grant applications is real or not:

We contacted Maal Maker, the Head of Media in the Ministry of Finance and Planning- South Sudan. However, in response to our  enquiry, he told 211 Check-in writing  that “this information is fake.” 

He shared the ministry’s official page used for official communications.  

Screenshot for the legitimate Finance Ministry’s Facebook page

We also checked the USAID South Sudan website and social media accounts, Facebook and Twitter handle, but no grant application information is available.  

In  October this year 211 Check debunked a similar hoax offering the same amount, 350M dollars. But it was mimicking the  Ministry of Investment. The ministry later denied having a call for funding through its official Facebook page.

Additionally, in April,  211 Check warned online users of another scam of the same application requirements, which resurfaced online.

Conclusion:

211 Check concludes that the page calling for grant applications is a hoax. It was created on the same day, December 7, 2022, and sponsored the false call for applications. 

We noticed that this impostor page goes by the name Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning, but the genuine page is named Ministry of Finance and Planning-South Sudan. The legitimate page does not have the word ‘Economic’ as part of its name.

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, a Chinese Pastor didn’t say he saw South Sudanese collecting firewood in heaven

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Writer: Ochaya Jackson

A tweet by Mariana Chep with a screenshot claiming that a Chinese pastor has seen South Sudanese gathering firewood in heaven is false.

“Chinese pastor reveals he saw South Sudanese collecting firewood in heaven,” reads the text on the screenshot shared on Twitter.

The screenshot of the tweet by Mariana Chep

The tweet by Mariana Chep got 14 replies, 7 retweets, and 27 reactions by the time of writing this fact-check.

When 211 Check performed keywords search “people collecting firewood in heaven” on Google; the return is that the incident appeared to have been published in 2018 on the Nairaland website, about a supposed Chinese Evangelist Wang Xiu Yin, who reportedly died and resurrected after 17 hours and narrated that he saw many Africans collecting firewood in hell.

And according to BestNewsGH.com, which also published the story in 2018; Wang Xiu Yin was sent back to life after an angel named Luj intervened by saying it was not yet time for him to die.

A reverse image search of the picture in the screenshot shows it is of Chinese-American pastor Po-Ming Wang of Christ Church of Bay Area in San Mateo, California – United States, not pastor Wang Xiu Yin as claimed. Pastor Po-Ming’s picture appeared to have been taken from a YouYube video of him posted in 2014 when he was delivering a Chinese sermon service.

And also, in 2019, a Facebook page Juba Eye posted the same claim that a Chinese pastor interacted with the angel who told the pastor that those gathering firewood in heaven to keep themselves warm were South Sudanese.

The screenshot of the Juba Eye Facebook page

Results of the research conducted about the claimed pastor Wang Xiu Yin turned out to be similar to pastor Wang Yi who was imprisoned in 2019 for nine years because of illegal business operations.

Additionally, his name is not among the list of Chinese pastors and religious Ministers who made public petition against persecution in China in 2018.

A search on Google using the keywords Pastor Wang Xiu Yin, and Evangelist Wang Xiu Yin did not yield any results. 

Conclusion:

The Twitter claim that a Chinese pastor found South Sudanese gathering firewood in heaven is false, and the existence of the claimed pastor is rare.

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, Qatar Energy and FIFA are not giving out cash celebration gifts

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Scam artists do this to make sure as many people as possible click on their link. This link wants to get information from people. With this information, someone could swap SIM cards and get into your phone, email, bank, and other accounts.

Writer: Jibi Moses

A link going viral claims that Qatar Energy and FIFA are giving out cash in the promotion to celebrate the World Cup, which is currently going on in Qatar.

The link being widely shared on WhatsApp has the title: “QatarEnergy World Cup Qatar 2022 Celebration Gifts” It then tells readers, “Congratulations! QatarEnergy World Cup Qatar 2022 Celebration Gifts. Through the questionnaire, you will have a chance to get 100000 pounds.”

A screenshot of the first image you get.

The site gives you two options of continuing or not by clicking on the answers to four questions. The questions are 1. Do you know Qatar Energy? 2. How old are you? 3. How do you think of QatarEnergy? 4. What’s your age? 

Right after you answer the questions, you get another message of congratulations with a picture of 1,000 South Sudanese Pound notes. You must share with other people before you get the price. About 20 people or in five WhatsApp Groups.

This is an example of classic engagement bait. These are typically social media posts in which people are encouraged to interact by liking, commenting or sharing. This expands the post’s reach but provides no reward or celebration gifts.

Screenshot showing the congratulatory pop-up message

The link looked like it could be phishing, so we looked into it.

What is Qatar Energy?

Wikipedia writes that Qatar Energy, formerly Qatar Petroleum, is the state Petroleum company responsible for all the oil and gas activities in the country headed by the Minister of State for Energy affairs. Qatar Energy’s home page writes a lot about itself, its activities, career opportunities and its staff. There is no mention of these said celebration gifts on its site.

Domain information of quatarenergy.qa 

FIFA is the world’s football governing body in full as International Federation Association Football, with its headquarters in Zurich, Switzerland, and its current President is Gianni Infantino. And the Association was founded on May 21, 1904, in Rue Saint-Honore, Paris. France. Its website does not show that they’re offering cash celebrations gifts as claimed in the phishing link.

Domain information of the FIFA.com 

Attempts to obtain comments from the organisations were futile because their Facebook and Twitter direct message boxes were closed to the public. They still needed to respond to our emails as of the publication date.

Domain information of the impostor site

Conclusion:

The claim that Qatar Energy and FIFA are giving out cash celebration gifts in South Sudanese Pounds is false. The message contains a phishing link that is part of engagement bait.

So, people should be as careful as possible to avoid these cheap and too-good-to-be-true deals.

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, this photo showing naked dancers was not taken in a Juba Club

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This photo doesn’t show an incident that happened in Juba; according to TinEye reverse image search, it has been used to describe events in Zimbabwe, and Nigeria in 2016 and 2018, respectively.

Writer: Beatrice Amude Paulino

A Facebook post on the 4th December 2022 by Lainya TV claiming that “a girl was seen undressing while dancing” to music star DJ Cent is false and misleading. 

The page claimed the photo of the dancers was taken in a disco club in Juba over the weekend.

“This weekend at a club in Juba, a girl was seen undressing slowly while dancing to Dj-Cent Mr No Rest ‘s latest hit. The girl was wearing a full sexy outfit before the Dj played the vibe “Let me be your lover” from  Dj cent that made the girl dance to the table while removing everything,” reads part of the Facebook post.

“The Dj was motivated and kept repeating the song until the girl finally removes her bra and lay on the table. People gave cheers and asked the Dj to increase the volume which made the girl undress fully naked before two responsible slay queens intervene and wrapped her in some clothes and dragged her out,” it added.

The screenshot of the Lainya TV Facebook post

The post garnered about 30 comments, 33 shares, and 88 reactions as of writing this fact-check. 

DJ Cent, who the post said the girl was dancing to his song, shared the post on his Facebook page and reacted by saying he needed the girl’s number so that he could bless her December.

However, 211 Check performed a reverse image search on the photo using TinEye, and it turned out that the photo was published on a website in Zimbabwe in 2016, describing the growth of dancing naked in the country’s nightclubs.

The photo was also used in the circumstances described to be in a Nigerian club in 2018. And DJ Cent is also not in the photo, which the post claims shows a girl dancing to his song.

Conclusion:

This didn’t happen in Juba. According to TinEye reverse image search, the image has been used in the past to describe events in Zimbabwe, and Nigeria in 2016 and 2018, respectively.


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

Fact-check: University of Juba VC overstated 2022 graduation figures in August

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VC John Akec estimated in August that the University of Juba would graduate 7,000 students this year, but only 3,500 graduated 

Writer: Ochaya Jackson

The University of Juba’s Vice Chancellor John Akec, in August 2022 projected in a meeting with President Salva Kiir that the University would graduate 7,000 students.

“He [John Akec] also informed H.E. the President about increase admissions of many students to public universities. Noting that this year [2022], the University of Juba will graduate 7,000 students,” the presidential press quoted John Akec in August this year.

This was when he met the president to inform him about the state of academic affairs at the university. The minutes of the meeting were posted on the verified Facebook page of the Office of the President – Republic of South Sudan.

“The number of intakes have increased and we are working to expand the number of lecture halls in our facility,” John added as quoted by the office of the president.

The screenshot of the Facebook post meeting minutes, by Office of the President 

The Juba-based English daily newspaper City Review published a story titled “University of Juba to graduate 7,000 students” on August 23, 2022, about a day after the meeting, which it sourced from the Office of the President’s Facebook page post meeting minutes when Professor John Akec met the President.

‘‘I had a fruitful meeting with President Salva Kiir, and I hope there will be steady improvements in the state of affairs of public universities across the country,’’ VC Akec was quoted as saying by City Review.

The University of Juba held its 2022 graduation ceremony on November 26th. How many students graduated then? 7,000? Certainly not.

211 Check obtained professor John Akec’s structured presentation speech during the recently concluded graduation on the 26th November, 2022 at the University of Juba, which was presided over by Vice President James Wani Igga. He said the overall total graduands were 3,500 whereby only 2,400 were present; approximately 2,000 males and 400 females graduated respectively.

“Your excellency, the Vice President, and representative of the Chancellor, distinguished guests, graduands, parents, ladies and gentlemen. I want to congratulate our 3,500 graduands of today for their landmark achievement. Those in attendance today are about 2,400 graduands comprising about 2,000 males and 400 females. Of these, 12 will be awarded doctorate degrees, 513 will be awarded masters, 137 will be awarded postgraduate diplomas, 973 will receive bachelor degrees, [and] 737 will be awarded intermediate diplomas,” Vice Chancellor John Akec stated in his speech to the public.

In an interview on the state-run South Sudan Broadcasting Corporation before the graduation, John Akec also said that 3,500 students were graduating from different colleges, but only 2,400 were there.

Looking back at University of Juba graduation in 2021:

Only a year ago, in 2021, at least 1,756 students from various colleges and faculties at the University of Juba graduated. There were 1,452 males and 304 females among them according to reports by Eye Radio and Juba Echo.

Conclusion:

211 Check concludes that John Akec overstated in his August projection in which he claimed that 7,000 students would graduate from the University of Juba this year, 2022. Only 3,500 students graduated from the university in its 2022 graduation held on 26th November.


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