A screen-grab of a tweet allegedly shared on the Citizen Television Twitter account, was posted on July 19, 2021. This tweet reads, “Just have a look at what Ichung’wa said about the victims of the oil tanker tragedy”. Another tweet shared the same image on the same day.
Background
By July 20, 2021, casualties from the overturned tanker in Siaya county had risen to 17. The incident that happened on Saturday 17, 2021 involved an oil tanker that collided with another vehicle. As residents of Gem ran to siphon fuel off this tanker, it exploded. 12 bodies of those who died on the spot are said to have burnt beyond recognition. The others succumbed while receiving treatment at the county referral hospital.
Piga Firimbi previously published a fact-check looking into a misleading tweet that appeared to show the events that happened before the tanker exploded here.
Verification
Using aspects of this statement allegedly by the Kikuyu Member of Parliament, Kimani Ichung’wa, we ran a Twitter advanced search. First, we used; ‘We all saw what happened to them on Saturday’ as keywords of any tweets shared by @citizentvkenya, between July 17, 2021 and July 20, 2021. From this, there were no results of the said tweet.
Piga Firimbi also sought comment on this from Citizen TV’s Head of Digital, Philip Mwaniki, who said that the tweet is not part of Citizen TV’s content, as it is not on any of their platforms.
Further, a Google advanced search of an interview of Kimani Ichung’wa published by Citizen Tv Kenya between July 17, 2021 and July 20, 2021, resulted in Tweets from the Day Break breakfast show, aired on July 19, 2021. Among those who sat in this panel was Ichung’wa, alongside, political analyst Herman Manyora and Member of Parliament, Eldas, Adan Keynan. (See screengrab below).
A further search on YouTube from this 48-minute breakfast show, shows a panel discussion analyzing the recent Kiambaa by-elections on the Day Break show. There is no aspect of a discussion that looked into the recent tragedy of an overturned oil tanker in Gem, Siaya county. In addition, Kimani is not heard giving any comments on the tragedy from Siaya county either.
Verdict
NO, this Tweet claiming to quote remarks by Kimani Ichung’wa was not shared by Citizen Tv Kenya.
This story was produced by Africa Uncensored in partnership with Code for Africa with support from Deutsche Welle Akademie.
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