NAIROBI, Kenya, Jan 10 – A viral image of pupils learning under an open-air makeshift class in Fafi constituency, northern Kenya, was taken in Malawi.
A reverse search of the image yielded results dating back six months all attributed to Malawi.
Twitter user Richard Odhiambo shared the image on November 10, 2022 in a statement that appeared to rebuke Fafi lawmaker Salah Yakub (UDA) over what he termed as misplaced priorities.
Search results for the image revealed the oldest available post was published by Yamikani Mtisau, a Malawi-based Project Manager who linked it to the state of school infrastructure in the country.
The image also yielded at least a dozen results from Facebook users in Malawi and Zambia, both in the southern part of Africa.
This fact check established that all the available images were published prior to Odhiambo’s November 10 tweet.
Odhiambo’s jibe at Yakub was part of an escalation of criticism directed at the first-time lawmaker by a number of commentators after suggesting that he would propose an amendment to scrap presidential term limits ostensibly to allow President William Ruto to govern beyond the 10-year cap imposed by the Constitution (2010).
Ruto steered clear of the proposal terming it as a non-priority issue for the governing UDA party.
Odhiambo’s assertion that the image represented a school in Fafi is therefore false.
