IN SHORT: This Facebook account would have you believe that Margaret Gakuo Kenyatta, the wife of former Kenyan president Uhuru Kenyatta, is giving out loans on Facebook. But it is just one of many imposter accounts trying to defraud Kenyans.
The Facebook account HN Margaret Kenyatta offers Kenyans up to KSh70,000 (about US$538) in instant loans.
It uses the name and photo of Margaret Gakuo Kenyatta, the wife of former Kenyan president Uhuru Kenyatta, to promote the offers.
A typical post from the account reads: “HOW MUCH LOAN DO YOU NEED RIGHT NOW. 0707901353 in 30minutes 5,000(KSH), 10,000(KSH), 20,000(KSH), 30,000(KSH), 40,000(KSH), 50,000(KSH), 60,000(KSH) and 70,000(KSH). Whatsapp 0707901353 in 30minutes.”
In some of its posts, it suggests that the loans are from Inua Jamii, a Kenyan government programme that gives cash grants to poor and vulnerable people. “Inua Jamii” is Kiswahili for “uplift the community”.
But can the account and its offers be trusted? We checked.
Imposter Facebook account
The poor writing in the account’s posts is the first sign that the ads are a scam. A former first lady’s Facebook account would probably be managed by a professional social media team. It is unlikely that her page would publish content with random capitalisation, repetition and odd punctuation.
Another red flag is the claim that the loans are from the Inua Jamii programme. The programme does not provide loans. That's why we couldn't find any loan offers on its official Facebook page.
When former president Kenyatta’s successor, William Ruto, was sworn in on 13 September 2022, his wife, Rachel Ruto, took over the duties of first lady of Kenya from Margaret Kenyatta.
Official social media accounts, such as the Facebook page Office of the First Lady Kenya, are now in Rachel Ruto’s name. No such offers appear on this page either.
The page is run by an imposter and should be ignored.
To protect yourself, read Africa Check’s handy guide to Facebook scams and how to spot them.
For publishers: what to do if your post is rated false
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Publishers guideAfrica Check teams up with Facebook
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You can also help identify false information on Facebook. This guide explains how.
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