HOAX: This internal memo is not from the University of Nairobi
The university has asked students to disregard the memo terming it fake.
A memo shared on Facebook claiming that the University of Nairobi will resume face-to-face lectures on May 10, 2021, is FAKE.
The internal memo, purportedly issued by the university’s deputy vice-chancellor, urges parents and guardians to facilitate their children with upkeep of KSh 22,000 per month.
“The administration wishes to inform all new and continuing students that resumption of 2020/2021 academic year face-to-face learning will commence on May 10, 2021. All students are required to report on the said date due to the fixed timetable ahead,” the internal memo reads. It is dated April 29, 2021.
“Parents/Guardians are kindly requested to provide for the students an upkeep amount of atleast (sic) Ksh 22,000 per month so as to enable them to conduct themselves comfortably… and ensure that their needs are catered for such as food, accommodation (rent), stationery and clothing,” it adds.
The stipulated upkeep amount is to prevent students from staying without meals for days, the memo states. Students are advised to observe COVID-19 prevention measures as set out by the Ministry of Health.
However, the University of Nairobi, through its official Facebook page, has asked its students to disregard the “internal memo”, because it is “fake”.
“The memo below has been circulated on various social media platforms. Please note that this is FAKE,” the university wrote. It also attached the aforementioned memo with a stamp across the document written “fake”.
The fake document does not have the university’s logo seen in this memo, which was released by the institution.
The University of Nairobi’s deputy vice-chancellor is Prof. Julius Ogeng’o, not Prof. I.N. Kimengi. PesaCheck has established that Prof. Isaac Njuguna Kimengi is the deputy vice-chancellor in charge of Academics, Research and Extension at Moi University.
PesaCheck has looked into an internal memo shared on Facebook claiming that the University of Nairobi students will resume face-to-face learning on May 10, 2021, and finds it to be FAKE.
This post is part of an ongoing series of PesaCheck fact-checks examining content marked as potential misinformation on Facebook and other social media platforms.
By partnering with Facebook and similar social media platforms, third-party fact-checking organisations like PesaCheck are helping to sort fact from fiction. We do this by giving the public deeper insight and context to posts they see in their social media feeds.
Have you spotted what you think is fake news or false information on Facebook? Here’s how you can report. And, here’s more information on PesaCheck’s methodology for fact-checking questionable content.
This fact-check was written by PesaCheck fact-checker Naomi Wanjiku and edited by PesaCheck chief copy editor Rose Lukalo. The article was approved for publication by managing editor Enock Nyariki.
PesaCheck is East Africa’s first public finance fact-checking initiative. It was co-founded by Catherine Gicheru and Justin Arenstein, and is being incubated by the continent’s largest civic technology and data journalism accelerator: Code for Africa. It seeks to help the public separate fact from fiction in public pronouncements about the numbers that shape our world, with a special emphasis on pronouncements about public finances that shape government’s delivery of Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) public services, such as healthcare, rural development and access to water / sanitation. PesaCheck also tests the accuracy of media reportage. To find out more about the project, visit pesacheck.org.
PesaCheck is an initiative of Code for Africa, through its innovateAFRICA fund, with support from Deutsche Welle Akademie, in partnership with a coalition of local African media and other civic watchdog organisations.
