IN SHORT: Africa Check has previously debunked Facebook accounts and pages impersonating journalist Chemutai Goin. This account, too, is fake and falsely promising cash giveaways.
The Facebook account Çhémútàî Goin Citizen has been running promotions on a Facebook group in Kenya with over 33,000 members.
The account uses the name and photos of prominent Kenyan Citizen TV news reporter Chemutai Goin.
One of its posts, dated 21 March 2023, reads: “GOOD MORNING fellow KENYANS. Chagua moja ujishindie Ksh50,000 KUTOKA ..INUA JAMII INITIATIVE FUNDS. SCHOOL FEES, RENT, BUSINESS, FOOD.”
This mix of English and Kiswahili translates as: “Good morning fellow Kenyans. Choose one among these and you will win yourself KSh50,000 from the Inua Jamii program. The choices are school fees, rent, business and food.”
Inua Jamii – Kiswahili for “uplift the community” – is a Kenyan government programme that gives cash grants to poor and vulnerable people.
The account has posted many different offers here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here and here.
But is this Facebook account really run by the journalist? We checked.
Fake Facebook account
We noted that there is very little activity on the Facebook account’s timeline. It is unlikely that the journalist would create a Facebook account for the main purpose of posting suspicious promotions on Facebook groups.
The posts have poor writing. This is another sign that it’s a scam. Such an established journalist wouldn't have several posts with random capitalisation and odd punctuations.
It is also unlikely that she would give out large amounts of cash on social media.
Besides, Inua Jamii is a government programme and not run by individuals. It targets the poor and vulnerable citizens through regular and reliable cash transfers. It identifies the vulnerable as older people, people with severe disabilities, orphans and vulnerable children.
Africa Check has previously debunked a number of Facebook accounts and pages impersonating Goin. In October 2022, she told us that her official Facebook account is Jane Chemutai G.
“All the others going by the name Chemutai Goin are fake,” she said.
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