CLAIM: Rwanda President Paul Kagame has attacked the WHO and endorsed Madagascar’s claimed COVID-19 remedy
RATING: FALSE: Kagame has not made any such comment.
A post has gone viral on social media claiming that Rwanda’s President, Paul Kagame, has endorsed the Madagascar COVID-19 ‘cure’. The post also says Kagame had said he wished former leaders Muammar Gaddafi and Robert Mugabe were alive to fight against the World Health Organisation (WHO).
The post claims (unedited):
“I WISH GADDAFI AND MUGABE WERE ALIVE”, Paul Kagame
An African giant leader the president of Rwanda Mr PAUL KAGAME has stepped in to fight against WHO. He said “no one from foreign countries will ever rule or control Africa! We’re united and strong as one! We’ll defend our people and our continent Africa! We are not cheap to be corrupted by WHO or evil people! Let’s support our brother Mr ANDRY RAJOELINA the president of Madagascar in ensuring that the African Herbal medicine becomes the cure for CORONAVIRUS in Africa! We’ll continue depending on GOD and support our African medicine! It’s like you are looking for war! I wish Muhhamad Gadaffi and Mr Mugabe were alive! But we still have enough man power to fight on and defeat the Goriath and kill it! WHO must be careful and watch out!”
Versions of the post have been shared thousands of times on Facebook and have also been shared widely on WhatsApp and Twitter.
However, Kagame has made no such remarks. The quotes are fabricated. There is no record from any credible news site of Kagame ever saying so.
What’s AU’s position on Madagascar’s remedy?
The African Union has not endorsed the Madagascar herbal remedy.
On May 4, the AU stated in a statement: “The African Union is in discussion with the Republic of Madagascar, through its embassy in Addis Ababa, with a view to obtain technical data regarding the safety and efficiency of a herbal remedy, recently announced by Madagascar for the reported prevention and treatment of COVID19.
Once furnished with the details, the Union, through the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC), will review the scientific data gathered so far on the safety and efficacy of the COVID-19 Organics. This review will be based on global technical and ethical norms to garner the necessary scientific evidence regarding the performance of the tonic.”
The WHO, on May 4, warned against the use of unproven remedies.
Conclusion
Claims that Kagame endorsed the Madagascar cure, and that he said he missed Mugabe and Gaddafi in a supposed fight against WHO, are false.