Former Kenyan Prime minister Raila Odinga has COVID-19.
The tweet, published by Tung Juok on April 7, also contains a photo of the former prime minister lying on bed while being attended to by two other people., A Google image reverse search shows that the image used in the tweet was taken in 2017. The photo was published in July 2017 by the Daily Nation when Raila Odinga was rushed to hospital in Kilifi County after suspected food poisoning., Given his public profile, Mr Odinga’s sickness would have been covered by the media, but this has not featured on any of the local media platforms. He was also hosted on Radio Citizen on April 10, which he would not be able to do if he indeed had COVID-19., Mr Odinga, who has routinely been posting on his Twitter account has also not said anything about having tested for COVID-19. He posted a live video on March 25 urging Kenyans to take necessary precautions against the infectious disease, then a statement on April 4. His latest post at the time of writing this article wished Kenyans a happy Easter., As of April 11, Kenya’s Ministry of Health had confirmed 191 cases of COVID-19, with 24 patients recovering and seven people succumbing to the disease., PesaCheck has looked into the claim that the African Union High Representative For Infrastructure Development, Raila Odinga, has contracted COVID-19 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: Raila Odinga has not tested positive for COVID-19