IN SHORT: There have been cases where consignments of subsidised fertiliser meant for Kenyan farmers have disappeared while in transit. But this graphic reporting that some were found in a house belonging to a Kenyan senator is fake.
A graphic with a report that missing government fertiliser has been recovered at a house belonging to Kirinyaga county senator Kamau Murango is doing the rounds on Facebook. Kirinyaga is a county in central Kenya.
The graphic reads: “Detectives probing how some 5000 bags of government's subsidized fertilizer went missing while being transported to 'farmers' in Kirinyaga have recovered part of the consignment in a house belonging to Senator Kamau Murango. The 1500 bags were recovered on Wednesday at a Nairobi house recently bought by the senator.”
The graphic features the logo of NTV Kenya, a private TV station.
Kenyan president William Ruto’s government is giving farmers in the country subsidised fertiliser to improve food production and lower the cost of food. But there have been reports of the subsidised fertilisers destined for farmers being stolen. Arrests have been made.
Some of those who posted the graphic criticised the senator, while others doubted if the subsidy program even existed.
The graphic has been posted here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here and here.
But did the TV station report that bags of fertiliser were found at Murango's house? We checked.
Fake graphic
While such revelations would have attracted the attention of multiple mainstream media outlets, Africa Check could find no such reports.
We also looked for the graphic on NTV Kenya’s Facebook page and came up empty.
The TV station has stamped the graphic “fake”. “Beware of FAKE NEWS! If it's not on our official social media pages, it's fake,” it said on Facebook 3 August 2023.
The senator has also called the graphic “fake”.
The graphic and its contents are fake and it was not published by NTV Kenya.
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