Kenya: Beware of Scam - Facebook Account 'Hon Williams' Offering Loans Not Run By Kenyan President

29 May 2023
Africa Check (Johannesburg)
By Grace Gichuhi

Offers of loans and grants from William Ruto would normally attract many hoping for presidential help. Such offers are also unlikely to be legitimate.

The Facebook account Hon Williams claims to offer "Inua Jamii loans" starting from KSh75,000.

Inua Jamii is a Kenyan government programme that provides cash grants to the poor and vulnerable. Translated into English, it means "uplift the community".

The Facebook account, which uses a picture of Kenya's president William Ruto as its profile photo, has more than 5,000 followers.

Its most recent post reads: "Good morning and congratulations kwa Wale ambao walipokea loan Kama uko online na hukupokea loan Kutoka INUA JAMII promotion from ksh 75,000/ na uko online Sasa tuma neno #promotion kwa 0791737160 kwa njia ya calling SMS ama whatsapp Kwa 0791737160 BUSINESS PERSONAL SCHOOL FEES EMERGENCIES How may I help you?"

The mix of English and Kiswahili translates to: "Good morning and congratulations to those that received loans If you are online and didn't receive the loan from INUA JAMII promotion from KSh75,000 and you are currently online send the word #promotion to 0791737160 via SMS or WhatsApp BUSINESS, PERSONAL, SCHOOL FEES, EMERGENCIES How may I help you?"

Several users responded to the post showing great interest in the so-called promotion.

Africa Check has previously flagged as fake Facebook accounts and pages using Ruto's name and offering non-existent promotions.

Is this another one of them?

Ignore fake account

There are a number of red flags that suggest all is not as it seems.

For one thing, the creator of the account says he is from Brazil and lives in Jamaica. It is unlikely that an account in the name of the president of Kenya would be run from another country.

President Ruto's official Facebook page is under his name - William Samoei Ruto - and has more than 2.4 million followers. It was created on 20 July 2011 and posts about his whereabouts and daily engagements.

No post on his page mentions any promotions.

The Facebook account claiming to offer Inua Jamii loans made its first post on 26 February 2022 - a profile picture update showing an unknown woman and not Ruto.

The posts offering loans and promotions were made from 16 May 2023.

Ruto is unlikely to maintain two Facebook accounts and dedicate one to loans to Kenyans.

The Inua Jamii programme is also not run by the president, but by the country's ministry of labour and social protection.

To protect yourself from online scams, read our guide to Facebook scams and how to spot them.

Read the original story, with links and other resources.
Africa Check is a non-partisan organisation which promotes accuracy in public debate and in the media. Twitter @AfricaCheck and www.africacheck.org

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