Africa Check
Did President Museveni get his facts right about Uganda’s development?
1st February 2019 Uganda’s ruling National Resistance Movement has made big strides since 1986, President Yoweri Museveni said in a New Year’s Day message to the... →
Fact-checked: The ANC’s 2014 election manifesto promises
28th January 2019 South Africans have been urged to register to vote ahead of the country’s national and provincial elections. Africa Check will be fact-checking... →
Have ‘hundreds’ of kids drowned in school pit latrines in South Africa?
25th January 2019 Thousands of people gathered in South Africa’s Soweto township in December 2018 for the Global Citizen Festival, a celebration of the hundred years... →
Nigeria #Debate2019: Did presidential candidates get their facts straight?
24th January 2019 With only weeks to Nigeria’s 2019 elections, campaigning is at fever pitch. It has not been without drama. On 19 January 2019 the first... →
Yes, teenagers account for 10% of deliveries in South Africa, but not half the maternal deaths
23rd January 2019 Many of the mothers who die during or shortly after childbirth are teenagers, the KwaZulu-Natal provincial government’s head of health said... →
‘Project Rescue Nigeria’: Fact-checking Oby Ezekwesili’s presidential manifesto
17th January 2019 On 16 February 2019, Nigerians will head to the polls to choose a new president. One candidate is Obiageli Ezekwesili, who has twice served as a... →
ANC at 107: Eight birthday claims by party leader Ramaphosa fact-checked
14th January 2019 With the stakes high in an election year, South Africa’s ruling party sought to play up its achievements in the 25 years it has been in power.... →
500 000 or 200 000? President’s numbers for mortgages in Kenya both wide of the mark
8th January 2019 In a recent interview on the state of the nation, President Uhuru Kenyatta said he was frustrated by how few people in Kenya had taken up home... →
No, Kenya’s capital Nairobi doesn’t rake in KSh10bn a year from Murang’a water
11th December 2018 Kenya’s young county governments are under pressure to make ends meet. As a result, some are laying claim to the national resources in their... →
South African Airways has lost billions in seven unprofitable years
6th December 2018 South Africa’s new finance minister, Tito Mboweni, has spoken openly about what needs to be done to solve the country’s economic problems. He... →
Do 49% of men and 34.1% of women in South Africa smoke?
5th December 2018 Does South Africa have a huge number of smokers? A tweet by the Foundation for a Smoke-Free World says so: “49% of men and 34.1% of women in South... →
Yes, China is Kenya’s biggest trading partner – but it’s not a balanced trade
4th December 2018 Kenya’s trade with China is rarely far from the headlines. The latest is a widely reported claim that China could seize Kenya’s assets over debt.... →
Is South Africa’s Mpumalanga province the ‘world’s largest air pollution hotspot’?
3rd December 2018 South Africa’s coal-rich Mpumalanga province is the “world’s largest air pollution hotspot”, an international environmental group recently... →
Yes, Nigeria is the world’s ‘highest producer of HIV-infected babies’
27th November 2018 Under the headline “Nigeria highest producer of HIV-infected babies”, the Sun newspaper reported on a new project to prevent the virus from being... →
Does Gauteng make up a third of South Africa’s GDP? And is it Africa’s seventh biggest economy?
20th November 2018 South Africa’s Gauteng province beat several other African locations to host the Africa Investment Forum, premier David Makhura said in early... →
Does Kenya’s tea-rich Kericho county get ‘nothing’ for its green gold?
16th November 2018 How resources are shared can be a source of friction between Kenya’s central government and its 47 new counties. Established by the 2010... →
Has Buhari’s government plunged Nigeria into $80 billion in debt?
13th November 2018 Nigeria’s 2019 elections are just months away, and Peter Obi, the recently announced Peoples Democratic Party candidate for vice president, has... →
Buhari campaign gets its numbers wrong about ‘record’ Nigeria agricultural exports
1st November 2018 One of Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari’s key promises in his bid for re-election in 2019 is to create more jobs in agriculture. A top official... →
Is top ruling Jubilee Party official right about who is paying income tax in Kenya?
31st October 2018 Kenyan taxpayers are unhappy after President Uhuru Kenyatta signed off on a law that increased taxes on many goods and services, including an 8%... →
‘65% of females’ in Kenyan slum traded sex for sanitary pads? Unicef & UK newspaper pull stat from thin air
25th October 2018 Seven in 10 females in Nairobi’s Kibera slum have traded sex for sanitary pads, a British online newspaper claimed in a September 2018 article.... →
Do South Africa’s civil servants get R8 out of every R10 the government spends?
24th October 2018 South Africa’s newly minted finance minister is set to deliver his first budget speech today. Ahead of the speech, Tito Mboweni commented on the... →
Does one in 10 children in Nigeria die before their 5th birthday?
23rd October 2018 Nigeria’s social spending is shamefully low, states the ‘best and worst’ section of Oxfam’s commitment to reducing inequality index. The index... →
Digging up the numbers on informal mining in Nigeria
4th October 2018 Millions of people in Nigeria survive on artisanal and small-scale mining, the country’s minister of mines and steel, Abubakar Bwari, reportedly... →
Spectator Index tweet exaggerates Nigeria’s suicide rate
28th September 2018 Popular for the facts and figures it tweets, the Spectator Index posted a list of the suicide rates in different countries earlier this year. The... →
Check the stats, Ramaphosa – 62 people murdered on SA farms & smallholdings last year
27th September 2018 Speaking in New York, South Africa’s president claimed that farmers are not being killed in his country. Cyril Ramaphosa was commenting on a tweet... →
Yes, neighbourly South Africa helps keep Zimbabwe’s lights on
26th September 2018 After an hour and a half of answering questions in parliament, South Africa’s President Cyril Ramaphosa wasted little time on a question from the... →
Number of qualified primary school teachers and grade 6 literacy in Nigeria higher than claimed
18th September 2018 Nigeria’s ailing education system is shown in the bad shape of its public schools, the head of an educational charity said recently. The Nation... →
Tax revenue and development spend: does Kenya’s majority leader get his numbers right?
14th September 2018 The leader of the majority party in Kenya’s national assembly wasted no time in trading punches with his TV host as he waded into a national... →
Checked: Two claims about the ‘astronomical’ cost of Nigeria’s election
6th September 2018 Presidential hopeful Kingsley Moghalu recently took issue with the budget for Nigeria’s 2019 elections, comparing it to the cost of the 2014... →
Women teach and men lead? Gender inequality in South African schools examined
3rd September 2018 Studies of female teachers’ path to leadership positions usually focus on the barriers and challenges they may face. That’s why Stellenbosch... →
Violence against South Africa’s women, children: verifying claims at a men’s summit
30th August 2018 Men from organisations across South Africa came together for a summit in August 2018 to develop a “men’s charter” and a “men’s sector strategic... →
China owns 20% of Kenya’s external debt – not 70% as reported
21st August 2018 Worried about being up to its ears in debt, Kenya’s government wants to hire experts to manage its borrowing, local media has reported. Much of... →
No, murder rate for women in South Africa hasn’t spiked by 117%
20th August 2018 Claim: The UN estimates 117% rise in killing of women in South Africa since 2015 Verdict: Explainer: 117% is from data now withdrawn by Stats SA →
Townships contribute R100bn to South Africa’s economy? No way to tell
20th July 2018 “South Africa’s townships contribute up to R100-billion to the overall economy,” the chief executive of business advisory service EntBanc wrote in... →
Do 8 300 super-rich Kenyans own more than the rest?
10th July 2018 Kenya’s wealthy have little trouble remaining in the spotlight. In April 2018, British think tank Chatham House spoke of the country’s “rampant”... →
Eskom and the viral infographic: do the numbers add up?
9th July 2018 Worker protests over pay at South Africa’s power utility have led to lights being turned off across the country. The utility, Eskom, announced... →
Do 10 Nigerians die from cancer every hour?
6th July 2018 In a story about a cancer screening event, a reporter in ThisDay newspaper claimed that “at least 10 Nigerians die from cancer every hour”. Health... →
Hit or miss? 5 claims by Kenyan governors fact-checked
5th July 2018 Kenya is grading its new system of government after the constitution created 47 new administrative units in 2010. These counties started to govern... →
Are 57% of South African kids raised without fathers?
4th July 2018 In its latest advertising campaign, detergent brand Omo features a young boy reading from a homemade Father’s Day card. “Thank you for always being... →
Did the DA-led Western Cape create ‘75% of all jobs’ in SA last year? ‘Confusing’ claim correct
27th June 2018 UPDATE: This report was retracted on 25 June 2018 following concerns that important context had not been included. It has since been updated to... →
Do 80% of Nigerians lack safe drinking water? It’s worse than that
22nd June 2018 In one of his regular columns, veteran Nigerian journalist Dele Sobowale questioned whether his government was ready to provide for a growing... →
