• A post that has been circulating on social media platforms claiming the government has set aside Sh2 billion to shared equally among Kenyans is false.
• The post widely shared on WhatsApp platforms indicates that through Coronavirus Relief Fund, every Kenyan aged over 20 years is entitled to a share of Sh3,300.
A post that has been circulating on social media platforms claiming the government has set aside Sh2 billion to shared equally among Kenyans is false.
The post widely shared on WhatsApp platforms indicates that through Coronavirus Relief Fund, every Kenyan aged over 20 years is entitled to a share of Sh3,300.
The message on the post further indicates that the money is being given out by the government and shares a link to a website for Kenyans to register if interested in claiming the funds.
"GOK FUNDING: The government has set aside KES2B to be distributed equally to all Kenyan citizens of the age 20 and above. The first phase of the distribution has already begun and is about to end. To get the funds sent to your mobile wallet i.e Mpesa/Tkash/Airtel Money, one has to completely and accurately follow all the steps below," reads a post on the https://gokfunds.com/funds/ web site."
Africa Check, an independent fact-checking organisation followed the link seeking to verify the authenticity of the message and found it to be completely false.
On clicking the link, the website asks three questions: Whether you are Kenyan by birth, the most preferred mobile money service one seeks to use for the funds' transfer; giving three options of Safaricom Mpesa, Airtel money and Telkom Tkash.
It then seeks that you confirm that you really need the cash, before leading to the final step that requires you share the message to 12 different WhatsApp groups, strictly, so as to unlock the funds.
Verification
First, regardless of the option you select, you will still be redirected to a page that leads to the step to claim the funds.
The website https://gokfunds.com/funds/ looks to be malicious and dubious as it fails to conform to the government uniformity in assigning portal names.
Most of the government portals end with .go.ke. and clearly, this is not the case with the link provided for the funds as it redirects to gokchat.com.
Second, no matter how many times you click on this link, it shows what acts as a real-time counter on the number of those who have benefited from the funds.
Every time you click on the link, it resets the number of those claiming to have benefitted.
"The offer is limited only till 30th September... Hurry up!! So far 291,304 Kenyans have received their Sh3,300 funding package," reads a disclaimer below the link.
To give it a more authentic touch a comment section resembling the Facebook layout is also displayed at the bottom of the page.
Irrespective of the number of times you visit the site, the purported 'beneficiaries' and timestamp in the comments read 'just now' for all and 'two mins ago' for one comment. This remains constant.
Suspiciously enough, the website also lacks any institutional, physical or personal address or phone number.
The Star reached out to the Ministry of Labour and Social Protection that has in the past been responsible for the distribution of such funds.
PS Nelson Marwa said currently they are engaged in a programme to protect the vulnerable in the society but dismisses availability of any relief funds for the coronavirus period.
This was also confirmed by Julius Muia, the Principal Secretary at the National Treasury.
"Currently, the government is focussed on the social protection programme that provides Sh2,000 monthly to the elderly, widows and orphaned families... This done through the Ministry of interior and coordination," Marwa said in a phone interview.
After checking on social media to see who and where this information may have been shared previously and, perhaps, track its source, we found out that the hoax has been shared in other countries such as Ghana, Uganda, South Africa and Nigeria but with different amounts of currencies in the respective countries.
The Star thus concludes that the claim in the viral post is false and a hoax.
This story was produced by The Star in partnership with Code for Africa’s iLAB data journalism programme, with support from Deutsche Welle Akademie.