On Mar 23, 2022, a tweet appeared on a Twitter page that claim to belong to a local weekly English newspaper reporting that Girma Wake is appointed as CEO and Board Chairman of Ethiopian Airlines.
At the time this article was published, the tweet was shared 15 times and got 71 reactions.
However, HaqCheck looked into the claim and confirmed that the claim is PARTLY FALSE.
Screenshot of the tweet
The long-serving Group CEO of Ethiopian Airlines Tewolde GebreMariam announced his resignation due to health issues on Mar 23, 2022. The Board of Ethiopian Airlines held an ordinary meeting on the same day and accepted Tewolde GebreMariam’s resignation.
Instantly, the Board of the Airlines announced the appointment of Girma Wake, former CEO as Board Chairman.
In this context, the Twitter account with over 28 thousand followers came up with a tweet claiming that Girma Wake is appointed as the CEO and Board Chairman of Ethiopian Airlines which was established in 1945 as a joint venture with the American Trans World Airlines.
According to the 2019/20 annual report of Ethiopian Airlines, it has eleven board members including Arkebe Okubay (Ph.D.) and Dagmawit Moges, Minister of Transport and Logistics.
HaqCHeck looked into the claim and counter-checked the statement issued by Ethiopian Airlines regarding the acceptance of the resignation of the former CEO and the appointment of Girma Wake as Board Chairman. Girma Wake who previously was CEO of the airline for seven years replaced the formed Board Chairman Abadula Gemeda.
Thus, HaqCheck found the claim to be partly false.
The statement released by the Board of Ethiopian Airlines on Mar 23, 2022, stated that the Management Board would shortly announce the new Group CEO and successor to Tewolde GebreMariam.
Thereafter on Mar 24, 2022, it was reported that Mesfin Tasew, former Chief Operating Officer was appointed as the new CEO of the airline.
(Image: Mesfin Tasew, the new CEO of Ethiopian Airlines)
Therefore, HaqCheck confirmed that Girma Wake was not appointed as CEO of the flag-carrier Ethiopian Airlines and rated the claim PARTLY FALSE.
Amhara militants burnt houses in Oromo Special Zone
One of the claims HaqCheck debunked last week was a tweet that Amhara militants set houses belonging to Oromo residents on fire. The tweet shared an image to support the claim that houses were being burnt recently in the Dawa district of Oromia Special Zone, in Wollo.
HaqCheck investigated the image embedded in the tweet and confirmed the image is old and doesn’t show recently burnt houses.
The image is not of a recent incident and was taken from a publication made a year and few months ago. The image appeared on Dec 23, 2020 along a report article regarding a ‘massacre in the Benishangul Gumuz Regional State’.
Therefore, HaqCheck confirmed that the image does not prove the claim and rated it FALSE.
Images claimed to show Oromos hanged by Emperor Menelik ll
A Twitter account with more than 2 thousand followers shared two collaged images on Mar 17, 2022, captioned, “Menelik Genocide on Oromo people 1897 in Finfinnee.”
The images were taken from old publications and don’t support the claim.
The first image was taken from an article describing the 1935 Italian invasion of Ethiopia. The image was published along with the article written in the Arabic language. The description stated that the image depicts Ethiopians who resisted the Italian army and were hanged by the Italian soldiers.
The second image was found in a website posted in an article about Eritrea’s short history. The caption written for the image in the article stated that the image shows Eritrean People’s Liberation Front (EPLF) fighters who were hanged by the then Ethiopian military regime, Derg during the Eritrean independence armed struggle.
Therefore, since the images don’t support the claim, HaqCheck rated the tweet FALSE.
Drone strike in Shire
Drone strike claims were observed on social media last week. A Facebook page with more than 21,000 followers posted an image on Mar 04, claiming that a drone strike took place in the town of Shire around 11:20 am during secret peace talks. The post was shared as breaking news. By the time this article was published, the post had more than 1,250 reactions and was shared more than 85 times.
However, the images used in the post were realized to be taken from provisos publications. The first image in the post is taken from an article published about Bayraktar TB2 Tactical UAV on Jan 6, 2021, on a website named Army Technology.
The second image was taken from a tweet made on Oct 20, 2021.
Therefore HaqCheck confirmed that the images in the post don’t support the claim and rated the post FALSE.
Famine and death in Tigray
False images about famine and death in Tigray were also observed on social media last week.
Two tweets, published consecutively in 2 minutes difference on Twitter by an influential Twitter account with more than 225,000 followers on March 13, 2022, were retweeted more than 800 and 1300 times respectively with 88, and 331 quote tweets.
Those who retweeted the posts re-shared the tweet using different captions. The two tweets posted a website link of an article, along with captions, written by the account owner, a popular journalist, and author, on his website. The article story reports the possible death that hit hundreds of thousands in the artificial famine in Tigray quoting a university scholar.
There are reports regarding the famine that has caused many deaths in Tigray. The food shortage in the region has led to starvation with over 5 million people in need of emergency food assistance.
However, Haqcheck has come to realize that the image used to support the linked article on Twitter, is outdated and has nothing to do with the current situation in Ethiopia.
HaqCheck ran reverse image searches on the image and found the same photos in a website published by Reuters on Sep 9, 2016, before the Northern Ethiopia war erupted.
“A malnourished boy lies on a bed at a hospital in the red seaport city of Houdieda, Yemen,” Reuters’s report reads. The image was captured by Abduljabbar Zeyad, the Reuters photographer.
Finally, HaqCheck found out that the image was changed on Mar 21, 2022, by the author.
Therefore, HaqCheck confirmed that the image used to support the claim is old and unrelated to the content, and rated it FALSE.
Recommendation
HaqCheck recommends social media influencers and content creators abstain from intentionally or unintentionally circulating false and controversial information on social media. They should be responsible and aware that their false information may pose online and offline damages.
We recommend foreign journalists to be careful and accurate while reporting. They should not use false images along with news articles.
Social media users should be conscious of the origin and intention of unverified information posted on social media platforms. They should question the authenticity of the information before they read and share it with others.
HaqCheck always advocates access to information be granted to the public and media. The government should make sufficient, timely, and accurate information and updates.
A post appeared on Facebook on Mar 9, 2022, that Russia is going to establish Africa’s biggest nuclear reactor in Ethiopia. The post was shared as breaking news. It used an image that shows heavy missile systems being transported on trailers.
The claim emerged amid the Russia-Ukraine war that started a few weeks ago and the fear of a potential nuclear war between NATO and Russia.
Ethiopia and Russia signed an agreement to develop a nuclear facility for civilian purposes in March 2022. They again struck a deal in April 2019 for Russia to construct a nuclear power plant in Ethiopia within ten years. The Ethiopian House of Peoples Representatives (HPR) approved the cooperation agreement in December 2020.
The post happens to be misleading in that it uses modern missiles along with the claim. And many may assume that a nuclear reactor facility means nuclear weapon manufacturing.
The actual deal Russia and Ethiopia got into was not about constructing a nuclear reactor. It is about developing a nuclear electric power generation facility. The Russian embassy in Addis Ababa told HaqCheck via email that the cooperation agreement will also enable Ethiopia to acquire nuclear technologies used in other sectors.
The post showed heavy missile systems and depicted that nuclear weapon manufacturing is going to be installed in Ethiopia while the deal between the two countries is otherwise, which is even way far from implementation.
Moreover, HaqCheck inspected the image and learned that it was taken from a video clip released by China Central Television (CCTV) in September 2019. The video shows a military parade on Sept 30, 2019 during the 70th anniversary of the People’s Republic of China since the Communist Party of China took power on Oct 1, 1949.
The heavy missiles in the image that is used in the Facebook post were displayed during the parade. The missile is called DF (Dongfeng which means missile in Mandarin)-5B and is a sophisticated intercontinental ballistic missile. Britannica states that a ballistic missile can carry conventional high explosives as well as chemical, biological, or nuclear munitions. CGTN also reported that the Dongfeng-5B ballistic missiles shown during the parade are nuclear missiles.
Hence, though there is a deal between Russia and Ethiopia for the development of a nuclear plant for civilian purposes, it doesn’t mean that Ethiopia is acquiring nuclear weapons.
The deal is that Russia will help Ethiopia to have a nuclear power facility to generate electric power within a 10 year time.
Hence, using an image that shows nuclear ballistic missiles is misleading. The ballistic missiles in the image also don’t belong to Russia.
Therefore, HaqCheck interrogated the Facebook post and rated it MISLEADING.
A Facebook page with more than 46 thousand followers shared an image titled, “Menelik’s brutality is remembered today at Chelenko” on March 2, 2022, the day the 126th victory of Adwa is celebrated in Addis Ababa. The post had about one thousand reactions, was shared more than 217 times with more than 200 comments by the time this article was published.
However, HaqCheck fact-checked the claim and confirmed that the picture was taken from the Oromian Economist website published in 2015 used in another context.
Therefore, HaqCheck rated the post False.
The 126th Victory of Adwa was celebrated on Mar 2 all over Ethiopia. In Addis Ababa, the victory commemoration was celebrated with various activities at Menilik Square and Adwa Bridge.
Oromo protests claim martyrs have laid down their lives for the sake of freedom,independence, justice, and human dignity in the battle of Chelenqo. The Chelenqo Massacre Memorial Monument was inaugurated on March 21, 2015, in East Hararghe.
The Battle of Chelenqo was an engagement fought on 9 January 1887 between the army of Shewa under Negus Menelik and Emir ‘Abd Allah II ibn ‘Ali ‘Abd ash-Shakur of Harar. Menelik King of Shewa invaded the Emirate of Harar after his victory at the Battle of Chelenqo.
Oromian Economist used the picture in its article entitled, “The Calanqoo Massacre Memorial Monument Inaugurated 21st March 2015”, a news report on the inauguration of the monument, along with other pictures and videos of the event.
Hence, HaqCheck confirmed that the image used to support the claim is not related to the subject under discussion, in addition to its being old, and rated it FALSE.
It was observed that most of the content on social media platforms widely used in Ethiopia had been evolving from image-supported false claims towards opinions and controversies not supported by any images, videos, or data worth fact-checking.
The information disorder trend on social media during the month of February was relatively reduced in magnitude. The issues of information disorder and false claims on social media platforms were also diversified.
Previously, most of the disinformation issues used to revolve around the armed conflict in the northern part of the country. There were times when almost all the false claims observed by HaqCheck were related to the war in Tigray and the adjacent regional states.
Last month, the false claims that were debunked and the controversies covered by HaqCheck were diversified.
HaqCheck inspected and covered issues regarding controversies within political parties, release of journalists, mine collapse, looted artifacts, and others that had little to do with the armed conflict in northern Ethiopia.
Most of the false claims in February were supported with false images and false videos. This trend had mainly been observed since the beginning of the war between the Tigray People Liberation Front (TPLF) and the Ethiopian federal government in October 2020.
Here are the false claims and controversies debunked and covered by HaqCheck, categorized into three: false images, false video, and controversies.
Disinformation supported by false images
Oromia Liberation Army closing the road from Addis Ababa to Gojam
On Feb 9, 2022, A Facebook page with more than 150 thousand followers shared an image captioned, “Oromia Liberation Army (OLA) closed the road from Addis Ababa to Gojjam as reported by various Amhara regional media.”
Oromo Liberation Army (OLA), is an ethnic Oromo armed group fighting the Ethiopian government alongside Tigrayan rebels.
In August, the armed group announced that it formed an alliance with TPLF, which has been fighting government forces since Nov 2020.
However, the image is found to be False, taken from a previous video published on Aug 25, 2021, on a news website with the title, “OLA is committing violence and crime on innocents in Wollega and Gujji zones.”
Even though there were several claims that OLA closed the road from Addis Ababa to Gojam the image used to support the claim is False.
Therefore, HaqCheck checked the image and rendered it False.
Firearms captured in Raya
A Telegram channel and a Facebook page shared a post on Feb 4, 2022, captioned, “weapons captured from TPLF forces at the Raya front.”
The post had more than 800 reactions and was shared more than 100 times. By the time the fact-checking article was published the Telegram post had more than 6700 views.
In order to prove the claim HaqCheck made an investigation on the images and spotted the pictures in a news video on Amhara Media Corporations’ YouTube channel published on Feb 2, 2022.
Tigrayan women digging trench to help TPLF
A Facebook account with more than 100,000 followers posted an image on Feb 02, 2022, claiming to show a Tigrayn mother digging a trench in an effort of helping TPLF attack Afar. By the time the fact-checking article was published it got more than one thousand reactions and was shared nearly two hundred times.
HaqCheck investigated the post and proved that the image was first posted on Apr 12, 2019, on a Facebook page captioned, “a terrace will not help for the people of Raya, rather removing bad governance.” Therefore, HaqCheck rendered the picture used to support the claim False.
The release of Tamrat Negera
Soon after the lifting of the state of emergency by the Ethiopian parliament, social media activists and human rights groups began to call for the release of prisoners detained during and in relation to the state of emergency.
Henceforth, the Ethiopian Human Rights Commission released a statement urging the government to release people detained in relation to the state of emergency.
There was also an online hashtag campaign that demanded the release of Tamrat Negera and others.
Images of the journalist were trending on social media. On Feb 14, 2022, an image was shared on Twitter with a tweet that demanded the release of Tamrat Negera. The caption of the tweet reads, “If the Parliament lifted the state of emergency, I hope Tamrat Negera and others detained in relation to the state of emergency would be released.”
The caption of the Facebook post which shared a picture that shows Tamrat Negera and others reads, “We were told by our brother Yonas Weldeyes that Tamrat Negera is released. Extrajudicial detention has to be stopped.”
However, the image used in the post was learned to be first published on Facebook on Aug 7, 2021, by the name Tamrat Negera. Moreover, HaqCheck instantly reached out to Tamrat Negera’s family and confirmed that he was not released yet. Therefore, HaqCheck rated the post FALSE.
Eritrean soldiers recently killed in Tigray
A Facebook post shared an image on Feb 19, 2022, claiming that thousands of Eritrean soldiers were recently killed in Tigray. The Facebook post published by the page, which has over 54 thousand followers, was shared more than 169 times at the time.
The post shared an image with the claim that Eritrean troops were recently killed in Tigray after they tried to invade the regional state.
However, the image was taken and cropped from an old post on the Internet. The original image was published on June 13, 2019, along with an article written on the Eritrean Martyrs’ Day, annually commemorated on June 20.
HaqCheck fact-checked the claim and confirmed that the image doesn’t show Eritrean troops recently killed in Tigray. Therefore, it is confirmed that the image used to support the claim is old and it is rated FALSE.
People killed due to mine collapse
One of the claims HaqCheck interrogated last week was a claim that seven people were killed by a mine collapse. Africanews.com, a news website on Feb 23, 2022, shared a news report titled, “Seven killed in Ethiopia mine collapse.”
According to Africanews’ news report, the incident occurred as the artisanal gold miners were caught up by the incident and buried underground while they were searching for gold.
HaqCheck inspected the image and proved that the image doesn’t prove a mine collapse incident in Ethiopia. The picture was first found on Dec 28, 2021, on different news websites with the title, “More than 30 killed in Sudan gold mine collapse.” At least 31 miners were killed and eight missing in Sudan, according to the reports on the different websites.
The Associated Press reported the incident that a rudimentary gold mine collapsed and the country’s state-run mining company said, “workers and villagers were searching the Darsaya mine for more bodies and possible survivors” On Dec 29, 2021. The mine is located in the Fuja village, around 700 kilometers south of the capital of Khartoum.
The News report also used two of its tweets from last year. Both of them are about a mine collapse that happened in Niger and Sudan respectively.
Therefore, HaqCheck rated the picture used to support the claim False. Additionally, there was no official news about the mine collapse incident so far.
Disinformation backed by video clips and links
Looted artifacts from Tigray
There were also claims and many posts regarding alleged looted artifacts amid the war in Tigray.
There were reports that ancient heritages and artifacts appeared for sale on websites including eBay, raising suspicions that they could have been plundered from churches during the conflict in Tigray, according to The Independent, a London-based news outlet.
eBay removed from its platforms a number of rare Ethiopian items. But still, there are a number of cultural and religious Antiques on its platforms.
Meanwhile, a Facebook page with more than 13 thousand followers shared a post captioned, “looted artifacts from Tigray are being sold like this.” Under the caption is attached a link that leads to a news website called africanews.com.
The website posted a video on Feb 14, 2022, entitled, “Tigray conflict: surge in ancient Ethiopian relics for sale.” By the time, the Facebook post had more than 200 reactions and was shared more than 90 times.
HaqCheck looked into the video and proved that it doesn’t show looted artifacts presented on e-commerce websites for sale at negligible price.
The video on the website claims, the latest victims of the year-long war in Tigray are the country’s rich artifacts, centuries-old manuscripts, scrolls which are offered on websites for a few hundred dollars and experts suspect that they have been plundered during the conflict.
HaqCheck found out that the video referred to by the Facebook post was first released on a YouTube channel on Nov 23, 2021, having more than 4.5 million subscribers entitled, “13 stolen artifacts returned after 150 years.” The video had over five thousand views.
Even though there are several claims that different artifacts are looted from Tigray during the war, neither the Facebook post nor the website video does not prove the claim. Therefore, HaqCheck fact-checked the post and rendered it False.
Controversial statements
The letter of Tsega Arage
A letter that was circulating on social media claimed to be written by the name of Agenew Teshager, former President of the Amhara Regional State, was another subject of controversy in February. But, the letter is actually written by Tsega Arage, a member of Prosperity Party central committee, to the Prosperity Party Control and Inspection Commission.
Tsega discussed in his letter that “the Rules and regulations were broken in the party.”
Apart from the reality, there was a manipulated image circulating on Facebook. The post used a caption, “Agegnew Teshager has broken his silence” and attached the letter of Tsega Arage to support its assertion.
Since the letter was written by Tsega Arage, HaqCheck proved that the image was manipulated. Therefore HaqCheck checked the post and rendered it False.
US Embassy opening a consular office in Mekelle
The claim that the US embassy in Addis Ababa opened a consular office in Mekelle, Tigray was one of the major topics of social media controversies during the last weeks of the month.
Wazema Radio reported that the American Embassy in Addis Ababa opened a consular office in Mekelle.
Thereafter, counterclaims came out saying that the information was false. Sheger FM, a local radio channel reported that the American Embassy denied the information that it opened a consular office in Mekelle.
HaqCheck asked the US embassy in Addis Ababa regarding the issue. The Embassy’s spokesperson told HaqCheck that the claims regarding the opening of a consular office in Mekelle, Tigray are all false.
Recommendations
HaqCheck recommends global media-tech corporations such as Meta, Twitter, and Telegram to work in collaboration with local fact-checking organizations to prevent disinformation dissemination on their platforms.
We recommend social media users to cross-check information, images, videos, or claims before they share them with their fellows. When the credibility of the information is in question, they should inquire about the authenticity of the information before they read and share it with others.
HaqCheck urges media outlets, whether local or international, to be responsible during reporting and make holistic analysis regarding any matter at hand. They should give timely and sufficient information to prevent the dissemination of disinformation.
It is always recommended that social media influencers and content creators be responsible and refrain from feeding false information.
As the selection and approval of Commissioners of the Ethiopian National Dialogue Commission went on and the House of Peoples Representatives approved the final 11 Commissioners on Feb 21, several controversies surfaced over social media voicing concerns and objections.
A personal Facebook account that has more than 163 thousand followers shared a post voicing a complaint that the 11 commissioners elected by the House of Peoples Representatives are not comprised of members of all ethnic groups” on Feb 21. By the time this article is published the post had 3900 reactions, 488 comments, and was shared by 1700 people.
Another post by a popular opposition journalist was also shared questioning the credibility of the National Dialogue Commission. This post had more than 6,800 interactions, 569 comments and was shared by 1300 people.
The House of Peoples Representatives established the National Dialogue Commission by Proclamation No. 1265/14 to create an inclusive national consensus in Ethiopia.
The draft proclamation was discussed with various sections of the society and stakeholders and the articles were revised and amended. A total of 632 candidates were nominated for the commission, 42 of whom were claimed to be nominated by the public. On Feb 21, 2021, the House of Representatives approved 11 commissioners by a majority vote.
The National Dialogue Commission is installed to work to reach a consensus on basic national issues and is designed to bring together political scholars and the public from various fields.
Speaking at the 3rd Extraordinary Session of the House of Peoples Representatives, PM Abiy Ahmed said the main focus of the talks will be on “the wounded history and Ethiopia we will build tomorrow.” “
However, misinformation and disinformation had been circulating on various social media sites, undermining and questioning the credibility and accountability of the commissioners.
The House People’s Representatives shared a post on Feb 22 to clarify the information being circulated on social media. In its statement, the house said that it picked the nominees from the open public vote, considered members from different ethnic groups, and consulted with every stakeholder to make the process as transparent and fair as possible.
Given the fact that the Commission is supposed to be of great national importance, HaqCheck recommends social media users investigate the source and intention of the information they share and publicly discuss to avoid the risky consequence of such contents of disinformation and misinformation.
The claim that the US embassy in Addis Ababa opened a consular office in Mekelle, Tigray was one of the major topics of social media controversies over the week.
Wazema Radio reported that the American Embassy in Addis Ababa opened a consular office in Mekelle.
Thereafter, counterclaims came saying that the information was false. Sheger FM, a local radio channel reported that the American Embassy denied the information that it opened a consular office in Mekelle.
HaqCheck asked the US embassy in Addis Ababa regarding the issue. The Embassy’s spokesperson told HaqCheck that the claims regarding the opening of a consular office in Mekelle, Tigray are all false.
Eritrean soldiers recently killed in Tigray
A Facebook post shared an image on Feb 19, 2022, claiming that thousands of Eritrean soldiers were recently killed in Tigray. The Facebook post published by the page, which has over 54 thousand followers, was shared more than 169 times at the time.
The post shared an image with the claim that Eritrean troops were recently killed in Tigray after they tried to invade the regional state.
However, the image was taken and cropped from an old post on the Internet. The original image was published on June 13, 2019, along with an article written on the Eritrean Martyrs’ Day, annually commemorated on June 20.
HaqCheck fact-checked the claim and confirmed that the image below doesn’t show the Eritrean troops recently killed in Tigray. Therefore, it is confirmed that the image used to support the claim is old and rated the post FALSE.
People killed due to mine collapse
One of the claims HaqCheck fact-checked last week was a claim that seven people were killed by a mine collapse. Africanews.com, a news website on Feb 23, 2022, shared a news report titled, “Seven killed in Ethiopia mine collapse.”
According to Africanews’ news report, the incident occurred as the artisanal gold miners were caught up by the incident and buried underground while they were searching for gold.
However, HaqCheck inspected the image and proved that the image doesn’t prove a mine collapse incident in Ethiopia. The picture was first found on Dec 28, 2021, on different news websites with a title, “More than 30 killed in Sudan gold mine collapse.” At least 31 miners were killed and eight missing in Sudan, according to the reports in the different websites.
The Associated Press reported the incident that a rudimentary gold mine collapsed and the country’s state-run mining company said, “workers and villagers were searching the Darsaya mine for more bodies and possible survivors” On Dec 29, 2021. The mine is located in the Fuja village, around 700 kilometers south of the capital of Khartoum.
The News report also used two of its tweets from last year. Both of them are about a mine collapse that happened in Niger and Sudan respectively.
Therefore, HaqCheck ratedthe picture used to support the claim False. Additionally, there is no official news about the mine collapse incident so far.
Recommendations
We recommend local and international media outlets to be responsible during reporting and make holistic analysis regarding any matter at hand. They should give suffising information to the audience.
Social media users are urged to cross-check information, images, videos, or claims before they share them with their fellows. They should be able to question the credibility of the information they see before they take it for granted.
HaqCheck always recommends that social media influencers and content creators be responsible for their activities on their platforms. We urge them to refrain from intentionally or unintentionally creating and circulating false information.
An image shared in a Facebook post on Feb 19, 2022, claimed that thousands of Eritrean soldiers were recently killed in Tigray. The Facebook post published by a page that has over 54 thousand followers was shared more than 169 times by the time this article was published.
However, HaqCheck fact-checked the claim and confirmed that the image below doesn’t show Eritrean troops recently killed in Tigray.
Therefore, HaqCheck rated the post FALSE.
There is an armed conflict between the Ethiopian federal government and the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF), an armed resistance front turned ruling party.
Months ago, there were battles between these forces in the neighboring Afar and Amhara regional states. The TPLF-led armed forces were driven out of the two regional states.
Recently, skirmishes between forces loyal to TPLF and Afar regional armed forces were reported in some districts of the Afar region.
There were social media allegations that Eritrean soldiers were backing Afar regional armed forces.
In this context, the post came out sharing an image with the claim that Eritrean troops were recently killed in Tigray after they tried to invade the regional state.
However, the image was taken and cropped from an old post on the Internet. The original image was published on Jun 13, 2019, along with an article written on the Eritrean Martyrs’ Day, annually commemorated on June 20.
Africanews.com, a news and media website on Feb 23, 2022, shared a news article titled, “Seven killed in Ethiopia mine collapse.” By the time this article was published the news was shared four times on Africa News’ Facebook page.
However, HaqCheck inspected the image and proved that the image doesn’t prove a mine collapse incident in Ethiopia.
Therefore HaqCheck rendered the post False.
Even though the oil and gas sector is still at the exploration phase, Ethiopia Has a rich deposit of Coal, Tantalum, iron, Nickel, Manganese, Potash, and Phosphate.
The Ministry of Mines and Petroleum announced that in the 2020/2021 fiscal year, Ethiopia has secured 682 million US Dollars from the mineral and gemstone mining sectors.
State Minister of Ministry of Mines and Petroleum, Simegn Wube stated that the revenue is earned from the supply of over 9,384 Kg of gold to the National Bank of Ethiopia and mining of gemstones including Tantalum and Opal.
According to the Africanews’ news report, the incident occurred as the artisanal gold miners were caught up by the incident and buried underground while they were searching for gold.
In the course of HaqCheck’s investigation, the image was first found on Dec 28, 2021, on different news websites with a title, “More than 30 killed in Sudan gold mine collapse.”
According to the reports in the different websites, at least 31 miners were killed and eight missing in Sudan.
The Associated Press reported the incident that a rudimentary gold mine collapsed and the country’s state-run mining company said, “workers and villagers were searching the Darsaya mine for more bodies and possible survivors” On Dec 29, 2021. The mine is located in the Fuja village, around 700 kilometers south of the capital of Khartoum.
The News report also used two of its tweets from last year. Both of them are about a mine collapse that happened in Niger and Sudan respectively.
Until this article is published there is no official news about the mine collapse incident. Therefore, HaqCheck inspected the image used as a reference to the news report and rendered it False.
A Facebook page with more than 60,000 followers posted four images claiming to show TPLF POWs captured recently in the war between the Afar region and TPLF. It stated that they were captured in a fight trying to control Serdo, a place in Afar.
But, HaqCheck looked into the pictures that are used to support the claim and rated them False.
It has been more than a year since a war between The Federal government of Ethiopia and the Tigray People’s Liberation Front( TPLF) broke out. Following the departure of the Federal government from Mekelle, TPLF started to advance southwards to the neighboring Afar and Amhara regions.
A fresh counteroffensive led by PM Abiy Ahmed from the frontlines was launched and freed areas that were under TPLF’s control. Marking the end of the operation led by the Prime Minister, the government announced that its forces won’t advance further to Tigray and will be positioned at the borders.
However, TPLF accused the federal government and its allies of trying to get into the Tigray region. President of the Afar region, Awel Arba also accused TPLF of opening a fresh offensive on Afar. and reports show that fighting between TPLF and Afar region continued.
In relation to this situation were the images posted on Facebook claiming to show POWs of TPLF in the Afar region.
HaqCheck looked into the images used to support the claim and found out that two of them were posted on Dec 01, 2021, with a claim that they were TPLF POWs captured by the army led by P.M Abiy Ahmed and 3 pictures were posted on Dec 02, 2021, with a claim that they were Tigrayans who were arrested by the federal government.
