• Without naming a particular school or location, the presenter in the show said the incident happened in Kisumu.
• The Ministry of Education through the County Director of Education Kisumu County, Isaac Atebe, in his response, termed the claims as false.
Information circulating on social media that four class eight pupils have died of Covid-19 in Kisumu is false.
The message in a viral video by Standard Media's Spice FM, claimed that a parent identified as Donald had shared his heartbreaking experience after his 12-year old son died of the disease along with his three cube mates.
Without naming a particular school or location, the presenter in the show said the incident happened in Kisumu.
The presenter said the unnamed pupil reported back to school after the Ministry of Education reopened schools and was a very active footballer before the tragedy struck two weeks later.
"Boy goes back to school in Kisumu ... is a very active child... footballer...developed a slight cold and was just sneezing once in a while. Following morning goes to shower with his cube mates.... he falls down and he can’t breath.... the other boys come to his rescue and call two teachers...”
“He was rushed to the hospital but unfortunately he passed away after testing positive of Covid-19. It gets sad because the three boys who came to his rescue have also died and the two teachers are in ICU....,” the presenter said in his narration.
The story was later published by Kenya Report
The presenter went on to say that Donald, a divorcee and residing in Kericho County did not have a chance to bury his son because authorities would not allow the body to be transported.
This sparked a public outcry with some members of the public asking why the Education CS was risking the lives of many learners by not ordering the closure of schools.
The Star’s fact-check got interested on why the father was denied a chance to bury his son at their home yet the government relaxed protocols related to the burial of Covid-19 victims.
We reached out to the presenter Erick Latif of the show famously known as 'The SituationRoom' who said they had established that the said person had duped them.
According to him, the said parent narrated his ordeal to them and in fact, they had agreed that he goes live on air to share the story.
"He switched off his phone when we were about to go live. Out of sympathy, I decided to share his ordeal only to realise later that he was a spinner," Latif said.
The Ministry of Education through the County Director of Education Kisumu County, Isaac Atebe, in his response, termed the claims as false.
Atebe said they had been directed by the ministry to conduct a survey in all public and private boarding schools to establish the claim and to their knowledge, there were no such reports made.
"In addition, the county director of public health Kisumu and the County director TSC have confirmed that no pupil was admitted nor any teacher currently in ICU over Covid-19 cases as at November 25," Atebe said.
The Star thus therefore concludes that the matter is misleading and FALSE.