HOAX: This Facebook post announcing the ‘Embassy of Lesotho in Kenya’ recruitment drive is fraudulent
This post on Facebook claiming that the ‘Embassy of the Kingdom of Lesotho in Kenya’ is recruiting 1,000 skilled and unskilled workers to be based in Nairobi, Kenya, is a HOAX.
The positions listed include administrative assistants, drivers, security staff, gardeners, cleaners, IT support, translators, reception staff, maintenance workers, and general support roles.
It states that applicants must be citizens of Lesotho, aged 18 or older, and willing to relocate to Nairobi.
Skilled roles require proof of qualifications and experience, while unskilled roles prefer basic literacy.
The post asks applicants to apply via a link that opens a Google form requesting personal details, including name, email, address, phone number, the position applied for, and preferred work schedule.
But is the advert authentic?
PesaCheck first conducted a Google search using the keywords “Embassy of Lesotho in Kenya,” which confirmed that no such embassy exists.
A subsequent search for Lesotho’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs led to its official website, where a public alert disowned the circulating post and reaffirmed that Lesotho has no embassy in Kenya.
“The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Relations warns Basotho about a FAKE job advert claiming to come from the ‘Embassy of Lesotho in Kenya.’ Lesotho does not have an Embassy in Kenya, rather Kenya is covered from our Embassy in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. Such scams are often linked to human trafficking and exploitation. Please DO NOT share your personal info or money with unknown sources,” the ministry said.
Using the site’s embedded social media icons, PesaCheck traced the official Facebook page and X (formerly Twitter) account of Lesotho’s Foreign Affairs Ministry and confirmed they had flagged the claim here and here.
PesaCheck examined a post on Facebook claiming that the ‘Embassy of the Kingdom of Lesotho in Kenya’ is recruiting 1,000 skilled and unskilled workers to be based in Nairobi, Kenya, and found it to be a HOAX.
This post is part of an ongoing series of PesaCheck fact-checks examining content marked as potential misinformation on Facebook and other social media platforms.
By partnering with Facebook and similar social media platforms, third-party fact-checking organisations like PesaCheck are helping to sort fact from fiction. We do this by giving the public deeper insight and context to posts they see in their social media feeds.
Have you spotted what you think is fake or false information on Facebook? Here’s how you can report. And, here’s more information on PesaCheck’s methodology for fact-checking questionable content.
This fact-check was written by PesaCheck fact-checker Rodgers Omondi and edited by PesaCheck senior copy editor Mary Mutisya.
The article was approved for publication by PesaCheck chief copy editor, Stephen Ndegwa.
PesaCheck is East Africa’s first public finance fact-checking initiative. It was co-founded by Catherine Gicheru and Justin Arenstein, and is being incubated by the continent’s largest civic technology and data journalism accelerator: Code for Africa. It seeks to help the public separate fact from fiction in public pronouncements about the numbers that shape our world, with a special emphasis on pronouncements about public finances that shape government’s delivery of Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) public services, such as healthcare, rural development and access to water / sanitation. PesaCheck also tests the accuracy of media reportage. To find out more about the project, visit pesacheck.org.
PesaCheck is an initiative of Code for Africa, through its innovateAFRICA fund, with support from Deutsche Welle Akademie, in partnership with a coalition of local African media and other civic watchdog organisations.