On the morning of Sunday, August 28, social media was awash with reports that a plane heading to the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA) was forced to use the Nairobi Expressway as a runway.
The reports also claimed that the plane had to make an emergency landing at Uhuru Park in Nairobi's Central Business District (CBD) due to the bad weather.
The reports were picked up by Kenyans online as well as a section of media houses, with the majority of Kenyans falling for the misinformation.
A spot check by Kenyans.co.ke, however, revealed that the images circulating online are old. The plane pictured is the carcass of a giant airplane that was towed to Uhuru Park gardens as part of the park's renovation efforts by the Nairobi Metropolitan Services (NMS).
Further, a spot check on the global flight tracker, Flightradar24, revealed that all flights scheduled to land at JKIA by the time the news went viral had landed, with only one flight having been delayed.
In an interview dated August 4, 2022, NMS boss, Gen. Mohamed Badi, disclosed that the aircraft was converted into a modern high-end hotel to give the park a unique look.
He added that the park would also feature other older antique materials such as old double-decker buses that were since converted into restaurants to become more attractive for all people visiting the park.
"It has taken us time because we went for benchmarking in places such as Addis Ababa because they have good recreational parks. We are now modifying what we saw to suit Kenya's taste," Badi stated.
"Within Uhuru Park, we will have high-end, middle income and low-income restaurants."
Badi also affirmed that the park would consist of a modern garden with waterfronts, a maintenance yard, a shearer garden, cycling tracks, a plant nursery, a skating park, outdoor library among other amenities.
"It will take another month or two to finish everything and open it to the public. But His Excellency the President will open it this weekend," Badi stated at the time.
The NMS boss affirmed that the park would be commissioned once complete. To date, renovations are still ongoing as the park is yet to be opened to the public.
