Africa Check
‘Saving face’ and the subsidy that disappeared: Fact-checking Kenyan deputy president Gachagua's media claims
27th March 2023 Kenyan deputy president Rigathi Gachagua gave a media interview on 12 March 2023 in which he addressed concerns about media freedom, the cost of... →
South Africa’s #NationalShutdown: Beware misleading visuals circulating on social media
22nd March 2023 On 20 March 2023, the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF), South Africa’s second-largest opposition party, took to the streets for what it has termed a... →
Kenya's public debt and revenue: How the data almost tripped up a leading African publication
17th March 2023 Kenya's troubled economy continues to dominate public debate as the country considers its way out of the crisis. In March 2023, one regional... →
Debating the state of the nation: South African MPs' claims about crime, education, service delivery and more scrutinised
7th March 2023 In February 2023 South African parliamentarians debated the president’s state of the nation address (Sona). In response to president Cyril... →
A third of Kenya’s budget stolen? We checked former senator’s claim about much-travelled corruption statistic
1st March 2023 Kenyan president William Ruto has stepped up his government's campaign to increase tax revenues as he attempts to wean the country off expensive... →
Federal legislator misleads about the law and Nigerian politician’s campaign cash
24th February 2023 Nigerians are facing a crippling cash shortage caused by the central bank’s introduction of new redesigned naira notes. And lawmakers are turning... →
600 000 homeless people on the streets of Johannesburg and Pretoria? Why this claim is flawed
22nd February 2023 At the start of the Covid-19 pandemic, as governments worldwide scrambled to provide shelter for people on the streets, South Africa’s Gauteng... →
‘A time of crisis’: fact-checking South African president Cyril Ramaphosa’s 2023 state of the nation address
13th February 2023 President Cyril Ramaphosa’s seventh state of the nation address eventually took off, having been bogged down by numerous points of order from the... →
2022 Sona promises: South Africa’s Cyril Ramaphosa zero for two on state utilities Eskom and Transnet
9th February 2023 South African president Cyril Ramaphosa will deliver his annual state of the nation address (Sona) on 9 February 2023. Themed #LeaveNoOneBehind,... →
‘Fraudulent and misleading’: why pricey herbal mix touted as a remedy for HIV falls flat
6th February 2023 “We would like to share with the world about the discovery of the HIV cure”, begins a lengthy post on Facebook by the Neem Foundation, a... →
‘Nothing under this government’: fact-checking five claims about record of Nigeria’s governing APC party
3rd February 2023 With just three weeks left until Nigeria’s 2023 presidential election, the opposition People’s Democratic Party (PDP) has sought to gut the record... →
‘Almost double the world average’? Debunking government claims about water use in South Africa
26th January 2023 As South Africa enters its 16th year of the rolling power outages known as loadshedding, some provinces also face an unreliable water supply. Over... →
Influencer makes misleading claims about presidential candidates’ promises to vote-rich northern Nigeria
23rd January 2023 Just over a month before Nigeria's critical February 2023 general elections, campaigners are pulling out all the stops to sell their candidates.... →
Fact-checking Kenyan president Ruto’s first roundtable with journalists
18th January 2023 For the first time since he was elected, Kenyan president William Ruto invited members of the media to a discussion at State House, his official... →
Oil, money, guns – fact-checking Nigerian presidential hopefuls’ claims on town hall TV series The Candidates
14th December 2022 Campaigns are in full gear as Nigeria’s 2023 presidential election comes steadily into view. The presidential election – and elections for the... →
Nigeria presidential candidate misses mark with claim about country’s ‘illegal’ 2023 budget
8th November 2022 Nigerian president Muhammadu Buhari tabled his last budget in October 2022. He will step down after elections in February 2023. At N20.5 trillion... →
Overstaffing and billions in salaries? Fact-checking viral claims about South Africa’s power utility Eskom
4th November 2022 South Africa’s State-owned power utility Eskom is never far from public attention due to debilitating countrywide electricity blackouts that began... →
Nigeria’s ruling party not solely responsible for rail development, as its presidential candidate claims
3rd November 2022 The sole credit for developing Nigeria’s railway system goes to the governing All Progressives Congress (APC), claims Bola Tinubu, the party’s... →
60% of South African consumers debt free? Popular Twitter account mangles study findings
1st November 2022 According to a September 2022 tweet from Africa Facts Zone, 60% of South African consumers were living debt free in 2021. Given unemployment in... →
Liberia peacekeeping ‘largest operation in Africa in the history of the UN’? Fact-checking prominent economist’s claims
11th October 2022 Four years after United Nations (UN) peacekeepers officially left Liberia in 2018, debate still continues in the country over the legacy of the... →
Thousands of migrants have jobs in Eskom, Vodacom and South Africa’s government? No, viral message plain wrong
10th October 2022 “The level of hate the SA government has for its citizens is not surprising.” That’s the final sentence in a much copied and pasted message... →
#NigeriaDecides2023: Ruling APC party chiefs fall flat with TV claims about the economy
14th September 2022 Nigeria’s election campaign season only officially begins 28 September 2022, but political parties are already in top gear in the race to win over... →
The number of South African police is declining, but minister gets the figures wrong – and what they represent
5th September 2022 With crime statistics from April to June 2022 showing increases in multiple crime categories, South Africa’s policing system has been under sharp... →
No publicly available data supports claim that 80% of women who give birth at South African hospital are undocumented Zimbabweans
26th August 2022 In August 2022 Phophi Ramathuba, the government’s head of health in South Africa’s Limpopo province, caused a stir when she was recorded... →
No, South African MPs are generally not paid less than their international counterparts
16th August 2022 How much South Africa’s top government officials earn is always a hot topic. Amid rising inflation, fuel price hikes and rolling electricity... →
Jury still out on how much South Africa loses to corruption every day
3rd August 2022 “Over R800-million per day is lost to corruption, nationally,” claims a June 2022 tweet posted by South Africa’s Democratic Alliance (DA)... →
From no-shows to walk-outs: Fact-checking Kenya’s presidential candidates debate
29th July 2022 Only two of Kenya’s four presidential candidates faced debate moderators, with only days to the country’s much-anticipated 9 August general... →
Battle of the deputies: Fact-checking claims from Kenya’s presidential running mate debates
26th July 2022 Ahead of the 9 August general election, Kenya’s four running mates took to the lecterns to promote their agendas in nationally televised debates.... →
How much schooling time did South Africa’s kids lose to Covid? Probably a year
15th July 2022 The Covid pandemic affected nearly all aspects of life in South Africa, including education. In March 2020, shortly before the country first went... →
#OsunDecides2022: Did debating governor hopefuls in Nigerian state get their facts right?
13th July 2022 Osun state voters will in a few days elect a governor, picking from a slate of 15 candidates. The state is in southwest Nigeria and has a... →
Monkeypox does not spread faster in men who have sex with men – virus spreads through contact
11th July 2022 In May 2022, an outbreak of the disease monkeypox was detected in several European countries where it was not endemic, or frequently detected.... →
PDP to the rescue? Verifying three claims about terrorism and jobs by Nigeria’s main opposition party
7th July 2022 Nigerians go to the polls in February, with the presidency up for grabs as Muhammadu Buhari serves out the last of his constitutionally mandated... →
What’s that stench? Investigating two claims about air pollution in South Africa
6th July 2022 Residents of Johannesburg have long complained of a “foul smell” in the air, similar to “sulphur or rotting eggs”. In June 2022, the stench... →
Checking three claims about Nigeria's ever-controversial fuel subsidy
29th June 2022 Nigeria’s petrol subsidy is feverishly debated, with the government caught between economic realities and political concerns. The country is... →
South Africa ‘most dangerous country in the world to drive in’? Testing widely reported claim by driver education company
15th June 2022 Buckle up, South African TV channel eNCA told viewers in May 2022 as it reported a troubling statistic. “South Africa is the most dangerous country... →
Nigeria elections 2023: As president Muhammadu Buhari nears exit, has he kept his promises? We tracked 20 of them
14th June 2022 Nigeria’s election season is in full swing, with the main parties having nominated their flagbearers across the different levels of government.... →
The last hurrah: Kenya’s president mangles the numbers in his final national day address – again
7th June 2022 Kenyan president Uhuru Kenyatta gave his final address on a national holiday as the country marked 59 years of self-rule after colonialism on 1... →
Nigeria spends more on national assembly than on education? Analyst gets it wrong
19th May 2022 Nigerian president Muhammadu Buhari is to step down after the February 2023 elections after serving his second and final term as an elected... →
Ruto on the campaign trail: Grading some of Kenyan deputy president claims about his record in office
13th May 2022 Kenyan deputy president William Ruto is campaigning for president ahead of August 2022 elections. Ruto seeks to succeed president Uhuru Kenyatta... →
Are South African IDs ‘no longer considered secure because of Nigerian smugglers’? We asked embassies
10th May 2022 A Twitter account with more than 19 000 followers linked to Operation Dudula recently made a claim about the ability of South Africans to travel... →
Checking three claims by pro-Buhari group about outgoing Nigerian president’s record
4th May 2022 Nigerian president Muhammadu Buhari is set to step down in February 2023 after two four-year terms in office. His supporters have recently been at... →
