This tweet indicates that 4,000 trees were cut for the sake of the Nairobi Expressway construction. This claim was also shared here and here.
Background
As part of Former President Uhuru Kenyatta’s initiatives, he launched Nairobi’s 27.1 Kilometer-long expressway in July 2022. Prior to this launch, Piga Firimbi fact-checked false claims that the expressway’s toll stations would be labelled in Chinese. Claims on Twitter alleged that the China Communications Construction Company(CCCC) would supposedly use Chinese language on the Nairobi expressway as they did with signboards on the Standard Gauge Railway(SGR) tunnel in Ngong, Kajiado County. See the fact-check here.
Verification
In a report from the National Environment Management Authority (NEMA) website, a total of 4,690 trees were lost in the construction of the Nairobi Expressway. See screengrab below from the report titled; ‘Environmental and Social Impact Assesment for the Proposed Nairobi Expressway Project’.
Verdict
Claims that the Nairobi expressway construction led to the cutting of 4,000 trees are INACCURATE.
This fact-check was produced by Africa Uncensored with support from Code for Africa’s PesaCheck, International Fact-Checking Network, and African Fact-Checking Alliance network.
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