FACT-CHECK - Raila didn't ‘mingle' with family after testing positive for Covid

 

A Facebook post with a photo claiming to show ODM leader Raila Odinga “mingling freely” with family and friends despite having tested positive for Covid-19 is FALSE.

The photo shows Raila lying in a hospital bed flanked by his wife Ida on the right and family members on the left. The former Prime Minister is wearing hospital garments with the logo of Nairobi Hospital printed on them.

The post accompanying the image casts aspersions on Raila, questioning why he was allowed to mingle with others when the virus is contagious.

The post questions whether the government is “using the African Union Special Envoy for Infrastructure to scare Kenyans into accepting the Covid-19 vaccines”.

“We all know Raila is Jubilee’s chief marketer! Was he paid for this?” reads the post in part. Jubilee refers to the ruling political party.

The World Health Organization states that Covid-19 mainly spreads through respiratory droplets among people who are in close contact with each other. It recommends a two-week period of isolation for people with Covid-19 symptoms or who have tested positive for the virus.

On March 11, doctors at the Nairobi Hospital tested Raila for Covid-19 following his admission to the facility. He was found positive. The ODM leader had felt fatigued and complained of aches and pains.

On March 14, he announced in a tweet that he was released from the hospital and was observing strict isolation until further notice, contrary to the claim by the post in question.

A reverse image search of the photo brings up the image published alongside a number of articles. One of them is in the Daily Monitor dated June 29, 2010, and contains a similar image that appears to have been taken from a different angle on the same day.

The caption states that the image was taken the previous day, while the article explains that Raila, who was then prime minister, had undergone surgery after he hit his head in a car.

Another article by Reuters contains another image from the same day showing a close-up of Raila and his wife Ida.

PesaCheck has looked into the photo claiming to show former Prime Minister Raila Odinga “mingling freely” with family and friends despite having tested positive for Covid-19, and finds it to be FALSE.  BY THE STAR