By Rebecca Odhiambo
A link shared on WhatsApp on August 19, 2026, claims that Naivas is celebrating its 36th anniversary by offering customers prize offers. The message features Naivas branding and the text, “Naivas! 36th Anniversary prize,” giving the impression of a promotion.
Background
Naivas is a homegrown Kenyan supermarket chain that began in July 1990 as a small family business in Rongai, Nakuru County. The first store, initially called Gitwe General Stores, was started by brothers David Kimani and the late Simon Mukuha, who were later joined by their father, Peter Mukuha. The business expanded to other counties and eventually adopted the name Naivas in 2006.
Today, Naivas operates a nationwide network of supermarkets, selling groceries, fresh produce, household goods and other consumer products through its physical stores and online platform. The company says it employs more than 8,000 Kenyans and focuses on providing customers with freshness, quality, variety and affordability.
In August 2026, Naivas marked 36 years since its establishment in 1990 with the ‘Ni Kwetu’ campaign, which featured interactive creative marketing and tailoring millions in customer appreciation discounts. Naivas’ anniversary activities also included a sustainability initiative involving the planting of 10,000 trees at Kilimambogo in partnership with the Kenya Wildlife Service.
Verification
Naivas’ official website states that it runs sales and promotional events, throughout the year, including giveaways. It also has a loyalty programme where customers can earn points and receive benefits such as bonus rewards, giveaways and seasonal perks. In 2025, Naivas, through its Facebook page, warned its customers of fake giveaways , and stated that such can only be trusted from Naivas verified social media pages and channels.Therefore, Naivas does offer legitimate giveaways but it’s only through its official website.
Comparison of the WHOIS records for Naivas official domain and the domain used in the purported prize offer
The image above compares the WHOIS records of the two domains. On the left is the registration result for Naivas official website, which was registered on October 20, 2021, with its nameservers hosted on Cloudflare. On the right is the WHOIS result for the website linked in the purported prize offer. In contrast, the domain is registered to Tucows Domains Inc. and is a generic URL- shortening service, rather than a domain belonging to Naivas.
In addition, after clicking the prize offer link, the user is redirected to another webpage rather than the official Naivas domain. The page displays a supposed 36th anniversary promotion and tells visitors to choose prize boxes to win gifts. After winning, the user is told to share the link to WhatsApp in order to claim the prize. Making it a strong indication of a prize scam.
Therefore, while Naivas genuinely celebrated its 36th anniversary in 2026, there’s no credible evidence that the prize shown in the message is an official Naivas promotion. The shortened TinyURL is not an official Naivas link hence not a legitimate channel for claiming a Naivas prize.
VERDICT
The claim that the TinyURL link offers an official Naivas 36th anniversary prize is False
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