This archive report was first published on 1 November 2019.
On October 31, 2019, city lawyer Steve Ogolla sparked a social media frenzy when he tweeted about a jailed granny, calling for her release. The tweet quickly gained attention from fellow lawyers, including ex-legislator Martha Karua and celebrity lawyer Cliff Ombeta, who expressed interest in joining the mission.
However, a fact-check by uhondo.news revealed that the 100-year-old lady had been jailed for three months in 2015 and was released after only nine days, thanks to Nairobi Governor Mike Sonko's intervention.
The image of the elderly woman, which was shared by Ogolla, had previously been used to misinform Kenyans online in December 2018, attracting over 3,000 shares and 2,700 comments and reactions on a public Facebook group.
A reverse image search on Google showed that the photograph had appeared in a 2015 news report by Citizen TV, identifying the woman as Margaret Ngima, not Charity Wambui as claimed in the caption.
It remains unclear whether Ogolla intentionally shared false information or was a victim of the Kenyan fake news menace.
