This archive report was first published on 21 November 2019.
On November 21, 2019, a shocking story emerged about a stowaway who allegedly fell from a Kenya Airways flight just minutes before it landed at Heathrow Airport. The story identified the stowaway as Paul Manyasi, but his father, Isaac Betti, denied the claim.
However, in a new twist, Isaac Betti has come forward claiming that Sky News reporter John Sparks gave him Sh20,000 after the interview. According to Isaac, he only went along with the reporter's assertions because he did not want villagers to find out his son had been incarcerated.
Isaac explained that he had told the reporter he was not certain of where his son worked in Nairobi, adding that he had clarified that his son's name is Cedric Shivonje Isaac. He also claimed that Sparks gave him the money after the interview, but did not reveal what he had understood from the reporter giving him the money or what it was intended for.
Meanwhile, Cedric Shivonje, the real son of Isaac Betti, has spoken out about the ordeal. He confirmed that the photos circulated by the UK news outlet were picked from his Facebook page and that he is a remandee at the Kamiti Maximum Security Prison where he is being held after he was arrested on August 7 on defilement charges.
"I saw my pictures on Citizen TV but the name was not mine. They said I was a cleaner at Jomo Kenyatta Airport. The next day, a warden told me the full story and inmates started calling me 'kifo' and 'maiti', I cried a lot," Cedric told reporters.
