Has President Uhuru Kenyatta Declared a Total Lockdown on 14th February?

Attached in the tweet below is an image that claims that the president has declared a total lockdown on 14^th February. The image purports to show a “live” breaking news announcement on Citizen TV with President Kenyatta giving an address.

🤣Yes please pic.twitter.com/AtVZCWd6Ws

— 254 Pacer 🇰🇪 (@danobura) February 9, 2021

Background

As the infection rates and death toll of COVID-19 continue to rise, many governments such as the UK’s have re-introduced lockdowns after seeing a surge in deaths. The Kenyan government announced a phased reopening of the country from the lockdown on 7^th July 2020 by ending the cessation of movement in and out of the Nairobi Metropolitan Area, Mombasa County and Mandera County. Curfew hours were still to be enforced in a directive which later changed the hours to between 10:00 PM to 4:00 AM.

Verification

A search for the headline on the Citizen TV website shows that no such story exists. Furthermore, the media house runs its stories in either English or Kiswahili.

The text appearing below the headline does not correspond to either of the two languages. A google search of the term” @HA RUN NA DA MEMIACK” brings up a YouTube user who makes comedic videos.

A reverse search of the image on TinEye shows that the image is from President Kenyatta’s address to state officials at the KICC on July 20, 2018, courtesy of the PSCU.

A search on the President’s official website also showed no such results exist.

With Valentine’s Day, which falls on February 14, fast approaching, a common joke online (see tweet below) is to come up with various ways and means in which people, especially men, could avoid being responsible for taking out their lovers or showering them with love on a day that has become universally accepted as “a day of love”. Images like this, and many others circulating on the web, and especially on social media platforms, are to be viewed from this humorous angle and not to be taken seriously.

Good riddance! Let's unite and kick out Covid-19 in the country! 😄😂😂 pic.twitter.com/Y0MJkZe8wt

— Wahinya Charlie (@Wahinya_Charlie) February 9, 2021

Verdict

Claims, as may be deduced by an untrained eye coming across the (mostly) tongue-in-cheek posts and accompanying images making rounds on social media that President Uhuru Kenyatta has declared a total lockdown on February 14^th are not only MISLEADING, they are FALSE.