By Gathuru John
This article, advertised on Facebook and Instagram beginning August 31, 2026, claims that there was a scandal on Citizen TV Kenya involving Kamau Thugge and David Ndii on JK Live, resulting in Kamau Thugge storming out of the studio. The article is titled, “You are robbing Kenyan families!” — Citizen TV program ends in scandal: CBK Governor storms out of the studio”.
As shown in the screenshot below of the Meta Ad Library, the account running the ad has 16 running ads for the same article.
Background
Kamau Thugge is the governor of the Central Bank of Kenya, and David Ndii is the Chairperson of Kenya’s President’s Council of Economic Advisors (CEA). JK Live, short for Jeff Koinange Live, is the Citizen TV Wednesday prime bulletin hosted by Jeff Koinange. Every Wednesday, Jeff Koinange hosts influential newsmakers in Kenya on the signature segment “The Bench.”
Kamau Thugge was interviewed last year, on September 5th, on Citizen TV’s The Market Pulse, a daytime business and news segment hosted by Jimmy Mbogoh. The conversation was on Kenya’s transition to a new, highly transparent risk-based credit pricing model anchored on KESONIA (Kenya Shilling Overnight Interbank Average) to ensure lending rates respond immediately and fairly to Central Bank policy cuts.
Verification
First, the article, published on September 1, 2026, reported that the JK Live show where the scandal took place was aired on 31st August, 2026, which was a Monday. The JK Live show airs on Wednesdays.
Second, no video of Kamau Thugge being interviewed on JK Live is available online. The interview by Jimmy Mbogoh last year is the only available interview of Kamau Thugge on Citizen TV’s YouTube channel. Additionally, Jeff Koinange did not host the last two JK Live shows, as shown here and here; Ayub Abdikadir hosted them.
How, then, does the article feature images of a scandal that took place in a studio with graphic overlays purportedly portraying those of Citizen TV?
A few things suggest these are not real images. For instance, images 1 and 2 show Jeff Koinange sitting between the guests. In all his shows, as seen in screengrab 1 below taken from this JKL episode, Jeff Koinange, as is his custom on the show, sits on the right side of the screen. This points to either fabricated or AI-generated images. The images of Jeff Koinange in images 1 and 3 visibly distort his facial features, and image 1 is missing the letter ‘J’ in the ‘JK Live’ text graphic that is present on the right side in the screengrab below of an actual JK Live episode, pointing to inconsistencies that are characteristic of AI-generated images.
Screengrabs of actual JK Live episodes
Also, comparing the graphics overlays in images 1 and 3 with those in the screengrabs above, there are some inconsistencies.
Comparing image 3 and screengrab 2 of an actual JK Live episode, which both show a graphic overlay of the name of the guest in the studio, on the extreme right of the latter, there is a timestamp below the Citizen Television logo showing the time the episode was airing, which is missing in the former. The graphics are therefore not real Citizen Television graphics.
The writer of the article manufactured a fake scandal and fabricated an entirely fictional broadcast event using AI-altered imagery to impersonate prominent public figures to promote a fraudulent financial product – Harmony Bitspore. He or she uses fake images of well-known personalities, Kamau Thugge, David Ndii and Jeff Koinange, to create a sense of trust in this likely fraudulent platform.
The article is published on a website that appears to be the official website of The Star, a credible media house in Kenya. Additionally, the byline, Gerald Maithya, is legitimate and deliberately used to create trust in the article. However, the legitimate website has a live countdown in the top left, showing the days, hours, and minutes to Kenya’s 2027 general election. It also lists its radio sister stations (Classic 105, Kiss 100, Homeboyz Radio, Gukena FM, East FM, Radio Jambo, Smooth FM) right at the top. These two are missing on the fake website.
An analysis of the website’s registration on WHOIS provides irrefutable, data-driven proof that the website is fake, as shown in the screenshots below. The real website was created on November 15, 2010, showing a trusted, 16-year footprint, while the fake site was registered on February 2, 2026, pointing to a setup created months ago. Regarding website ownership, the real site is registered directly by Radio Africa Ltd, the legitimate parent media house, while the fake site was bought through a commercial US-based registrar, Dynadot LLC, located in San Mateo, California, completely removing it from any local Kenyan corporate governance.
The article features a fake conversation from the fake interview, in which David Ndii allegedly champions Dnyaxavez, an automated, AI-powered global trading platform. To further create trust in the platform, they feature a fake story of a caller who shared the story of he made Ksh. 1,635,00 in one month after investing Ksh. 14,250.
At the end of the article, there is a section for registering.
Once you register, you are redirected to the page shown below asking for your personal details. Piga Fitimbi filled in fake details (screenshot below), but after clicking Proceed, the page would not go to the next page. Notice how, in the above screenshot of the registration section, they say you will receive a call to confirm you are a real person?
Piga Firimbi got a call from a number (screenshot below) based in the UK, and the person on the other end started asking for personal details, and we ended the call. After ending the call, five consecutive calls came in from four other numbers, four based in the UK, and one in Nairobi, Kenya, as shown in the second screenshot below. I did not receive any of them.
While the article may have a new date, it is not the first time it has been published. Here is the same story, published on May 19, 2026, three months before the one we have just debunked. Piga Firimbi has debunked such scams before, as detailed here.
Verdict
The article claiming there was a scandal on JK Live involving Kamau Thugge and David Ndii is FAKE.
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