A Facebook post says Kenya’s high court had scheduled a decision on the controversial digital identity project for the afternoon of 30 January 2020.
“High Court to give ruling on the Huduma Namba,” it reads. It includes a screenshot of a TV news report, and a shortened link to a NTV Kenya broadcast showing the text “High Court to give ruling on the constitutionality of NIIMS this afternoon”.
NTV’s live broadcast of the 30 January court proceedings was posted on YouTube.
The post was flagged as possibly false by Facebook’s fact-checking system. Was the high court in Kenya scheduled to give its ruling on Huduma Namba on 30 January?
We checked.
The Huduma Namba case is curated in Kenya’s high court as “consolidated petitions 56,58 and 59 of 2019”.
The cause list – the schedule of cases to be heard – shows that the judgment in the case was scheduled for delivery on 30 January 2020 at 3 pm.
One of the petitioners, the Nubian Rights Forum, also tweeted a photo of the cause list.
On 30 January, both the forum and the Kenya Human Rights Commission, the second petitioner in the case, tweeted separately that the court had rendered its decision on Huduma Namba.
News media also reported the scheduling of the case and on the court’s decision. So, yes, the post is correct. – Alphonce Shiundu
“High Court to give ruling on the Huduma Namba,” it reads. It includes a screenshot of a TV news report, and a shortened link to a NTV Kenya broadcast showing the text “High Court to give ruling on the constitutionality of NIIMS this afternoon”.
NTV’s live broadcast of the 30 January court proceedings was posted on YouTube.
The post was flagged as possibly false by Facebook’s fact-checking system. Was the high court in Kenya scheduled to give its ruling on Huduma Namba on 30 January?
We checked.
Cause list shows court schedule
The Huduma Namba case is curated in Kenya’s high court as “consolidated petitions 56,58 and 59 of 2019”.
The cause list – the schedule of cases to be heard – shows that the judgment in the case was scheduled for delivery on 30 January 2020 at 3 pm.
One of the petitioners, the Nubian Rights Forum, also tweeted a photo of the cause list.
On 30 January, both the forum and the Kenya Human Rights Commission, the second petitioner in the case, tweeted separately that the court had rendered its decision on Huduma Namba.
News media also reported the scheduling of the case and on the court’s decision. So, yes, the post is correct. – Alphonce Shiundu
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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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