On 20 September 2020, a fire broke out in the main administration building of Uganda’s Makerere University. The police quickly launched an investigation.
After the fire, a screenshot of a tweet began to circulate online, supposedly from the deputy spokesperson for the Uganda Police Force, Polly Namaye.
The tweet, undated but shared on 20 September, reads: “According to our investigation, we have found out sadly that the papers of the President of Uganda were also destroyed in the fire outbreak at Makerere University.”
It appears to be from the account @bnamaye1, is signed “Polly Namaye” and tags three other Twitter accounts.
But on the same day, Makerere University vice chancellor Barnabas Nawangwe assured the public on Twitter that “ALL our records past and current; Human resource, student, academic and financial records are ALL safely stored in digital form.”
In late August, Muwada Nkunyingi, a lawyer from the Ugandan capital Kampala, presented a petition to the country’s electoral commission seeking access to president Yoweri Museveni’s academic documents.
According to Nkunyingi, the electoral commission has never checked if Museveni meets the academic qualifications to run for president, even though he has been in power since 1986.
Uganda goes to the polls in 2021.
So did a police spokesperson really tweet that Museveni’s academic records were destroyed in the university fire? Or is this just too convenient to be true?
On 17 September 2020, the Ugandan police shared a screenshot of the Twitter account with the handle @bnamaye1. The police stamped the screenshot “FAKE ACCOUNT”.
There is no evidence Museveni’s academic records have been destroyed. – Grace Gichuhi
After the fire, a screenshot of a tweet began to circulate online, supposedly from the deputy spokesperson for the Uganda Police Force, Polly Namaye.
The tweet, undated but shared on 20 September, reads: “According to our investigation, we have found out sadly that the papers of the President of Uganda were also destroyed in the fire outbreak at Makerere University.”
It appears to be from the account @bnamaye1, is signed “Polly Namaye” and tags three other Twitter accounts.
But on the same day, Makerere University vice chancellor Barnabas Nawangwe assured the public on Twitter that “ALL our records past and current; Human resource, student, academic and financial records are ALL safely stored in digital form.”
In late August, Muwada Nkunyingi, a lawyer from the Ugandan capital Kampala, presented a petition to the country’s electoral commission seeking access to president Yoweri Museveni’s academic documents.
According to Nkunyingi, the electoral commission has never checked if Museveni meets the academic qualifications to run for president, even though he has been in power since 1986.
Uganda goes to the polls in 2021.
So did a police spokesperson really tweet that Museveni’s academic records were destroyed in the university fire? Or is this just too convenient to be true?
Twitter account discredited
On 17 September 2020, the Ugandan police shared a screenshot of the Twitter account with the handle @bnamaye1. The police stamped the screenshot “FAKE ACCOUNT”.
There is no evidence Museveni’s academic records have been destroyed. – Grace Gichuhi
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Further Reading
[email protected]: The challenges of working across Africa
Misinformation knows no borders and Africa Check often responds to similar false claims from country to country.
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