HOAX: This offer of free laptops from Kenya’s Ministry of ICT is FAKE
The promotion does not appear on the ministry website, and links to a domain that impersonates technology company Lenovo
A Facebook page using the name of the Ministry of Information, Communication and Technology (MICT) and claiming to offer free laptops to Kenyans is FAKE.
The post claims the ministry has partnered with computer manufacturers Lenovo, Acer and HP to donate at least 2,000 laptops in each of Kenya’s 47 counties, as assistance for those in distress as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The post states that the application is open to Kenyans aged over 18, and asks them to register for the programme by filling an online form and paying a Ksh 300 booking fee through an M-Pesa till number. The text further states that applicants would receive a confirmation code via SMS that they need to confirm the application, failure to which they can use the MPesa confirmation code.
However, the Cabinet Secretary for Information, Communication and Technology, Joe Mucheru, dismissed the claim, telling PesaCheck on phone that his ministry does not have such an initiative.
Facebook Page Transparency shows the imposter page was created on July 1, 2020, the same day the post offering the free laptops was published. The verified official Facebook page for the Ministry of Information, Communication and Technology was created on September 18, 2013.
Further, a WhoIs search shows that the registration form on the domain of lenovokenya.com was created on June 12, 2020, in Nairobi, Kenya. Conversely, the official Lenovo company website shows it was created on September 5, 2002, in Beijing, China.
PesaCheck has looked into a Facebook page claiming to belong to the MICT and offering free laptops to Kenyans in distress as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic and finds it is a HOAX.
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 James Okong’o and edited by PesaCheck Deputy Editor Enock Nyariki.
The article was approved for publication by PesaCheck Managing Editor Eric Mugendi.
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.
