$50 million funds from World Bank to be chanelled to the Sonko Rescue Team in Kenya.
The post, which was published on April 4, 2020, states that the World Bank is considering a decision to channel funds to the Sonko Rescue Team, which is managed and run by Nairobi Governor Mike Sonko, based on the fact that the group is recognised globally for its efforts in helping ordinary citizens., The post contains images that had been tweeted by Nairobi Governor Mike Sonko showing the Sonko Rescue Team fumigating informal settlements in Nairobi in response to COVID-19., The World Bank has, however, stated that they have not sent any funds to the Sonko Rescue Team, and that they work through governments and government agencies, not organizations owned by individuals., “The World Bank is mandated to provide loans to the governments only, then the governments implement the projects,” World Bank Communications Officer Keziah Muthembwa told PesaCheck., Ms Muthembwa added that any directive to channel funds from the World Bank to the Sonko Rescue Team would come from the Kenyan government. However, no such communication has been made on any State platforms., On March 16, the World Bank announced a $60 million commitment to the government of Kenya to help in the country respond to COVID-19., On April 2, $50 million of the fund was approved by the Bank’s board of directors. In a statement, the bank said the money was meant to support Kenya’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic, under the ‘Kenya COVID-19 Emergency Response’ Project., According to the World Bank, the project will provide emergency funding that will be used for medical diagnostic services, surveillance and response, capacity building, quarantine, isolation and treatment centers, medical waste disposal, risk communications and community engagement., PesaCheck previously looked into a similar false claim, which alleged that the Sonko Rescue Team was giving out grants in collaboration with the World Bank., As of April 9, Kenya’s Ministry of Health had confirmed 184 cases of COVID-19, with 12 patients recovering and seven people succumbing to the disease., PesaCheck has looked into the claim that the World Bank is looking to direct $50 million to the Sonko Rescue Team 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., By partnering with Facebook and similar social media platforms, third-party fact-checking organisations like PesaCheck are helping to sort fact from fiction. We do this by giving the public deeper insight and context to posts they see in their social media feeds., Have you spotted what you think is fake news or false information on Facebook? Here’s how you can report. And, here’s more information on PesaCheck’s methodology for fact-checking questionable content., This fact-check was written by Fact-Checker Linda Ngari and edited by PesaCheck News Editor Enock Nyariki. The article was approved for publication by PesaCheck Managing Editor Eric Mugendi., PesaCheck is East Africa’s first public finance fact-checking initiative. It was co-founded by Catherine Gicheru and Justin Arenstein, and is being incubated by the continent’s largest civic technology and data journalism accelerator: Code for Africa. It seeks to help the public separate fact from fiction in public pronouncements about the numbers that shape our world, with a special emphasis on pronouncements about public finances that shape government’s delivery of Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) public services, such as healthcare, rural development and access to water / sanitation. PesaCheck also tests the accuracy of media reportage. To find out more about the project, visit pesacheck.org., PesaCheck is a joint initiative of Code for Africa, through its innovateAFRICA fund, with additional funding support from the International Budget Partnership (Kenya) and Twaweza, in partnership with a coalition of local media organisations, and the International Center for Journalists (ICFJ)., Written by, Written by
FALSE: The World Bank has not channeled $50 million against COVID-19 to the Sonko Rescue Team