On Tuesday, speculation was rife that Rwandese President Paul Kagame rejected Bell UH-1 Iroquois also known as Bell Huey II helicopters offered by the American government following the air crash that claimed the life of Kenyan Chief of Defence Forces (CDF) Francis Ogolla who perished last week.
The speculation stemmed from an image doing rounds on social media, igniting widespread debate on the matter.
The reports, which became a top trend for the better part of the morning, claimed that Kagame rejected the donation from the United States over safety concerns.
So rife was the speculation that local politicians started posting images, ostensibly of the front page of The East African newspaper, which was alleged to have led with this conversation as its lead story.
However, contrary to the reports, Kenyans.co.ke did a fact check and established that the reports were fake.
The fake issue was dated April 26, 2017, to June 30, 2017, to mirror real East African editions which are published once a week.
It is also instructive to note that the persons who faked the issue chose to go with a past date.
Further, The East African's style guide dictates that titles be crafted in title case and not upper case as published in the fake edition.
Our research also established that the only article published by the authentic East African platform related to Huey II helicopters in 2017 was titled: Kenya and Uganda Receive Helicopters for Enhanced War Against Al Shabaab.
The article narrated that both countries received the military aircraft to equip the African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM) in their fight against the extremist group.
The plane crash that claimed CDF Ogolla's life brought to light the safety concerns regarding the country's military hardware. Further, the crash was the fifth incident involving a KDF plane in recent months.
Following Ogolla's death, Major General John Mugaravai Omenda, the Commander of the Kenya Air Force, appointed a team to probe the matter.
President William Ruto expressed confidence that the team would leave no stone unturned in the investigations to unearth the truth.
"I have full confidence in KDF. They are our foremost professional entity in Kenya therefore I believe in General Omenda and the team he has appointed to make sure that all details are laid bare on the accident that took away the life of General Ogolla," Ruto stated during the memorial service in Siaya County on Sunday.
