IN SHORT: Imposter accounts are common on Kenyan social media platforms. A screenshot of a tweet quoting Kenya’s police chief, Japheth Koome, recently went viral. The tweet is fake, but seems to have fooled many.
A screenshot of a tweet circulating on Facebook in June 2023 attributes a quote to Kenya’s Inspector General of Police, Japheth Koome. It has received over 320,000 views on Twitter and hundreds of engagements.
The screenshot includes a photo of Koome and the logo of NTV Kenya, a local broadcaster with national reach.
The text in the screenshot reads: “Breaking news: I.G Koome invites any horny citizens to aid in cooling situations at Women’s prison after large doses of viagra were mistakenly added to their food.”
Viagra, also known as sildenafil, is used to treat erectile dysfunction.
The screenshot was published here, here, here, here, here, here, here and here.
But was this controversial quote published by NTV Kenya? We checked.
Red flags point to fake tweet
Africa Check searched Google for the quote attributed to Koome and came up empty. It has also not been reported by any credible media.
The graphic can’t be found on NTV Kenya’s official Facebook and Twitter accounts.
The first post was published on an account with the handle @ntvmkenya, which mimics the official NTV Kenya account and is unverified.
The official Twitter account of the TV channel uses the handle @ntvkenya and has a blue verification badge.
NTV Kenya subsequently posted the graphic on its official Twitter and Facebook accounts, with the word “fake” stamped on it.
“Beware of fake news! If it's not on our official social media pages, it's fake,” the broadcaster wrote.
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