NAIROBI, Apr 16 (AGCNewsNet) – The Kenyan government has dismissed viral social media claims suggesting that Health Cabinet Secretary Aden Duale was involved in a helicopter crash in Malindi, labeling the reports as false and misleading.

The misinformation, widely circulated via TikTok on April 9, 2025, included a video falsely stating that a police chopper carrying Duale had crashed along the Malindi-Mombasa highway. However, investigations confirm that the footage in question actually depicts a light training aircraft crash from January 2025, with no links whatsoever to the cabinet secretary.

“Police chopper carrying CS Aden Duale crash in Malindi,” the TikTok post read, accompanied by a 2025 timestamp and an image of Duale superimposed on footage of an aircraft wreckage surrounded by onlookers.

According to aviation authorities and local news outlets, the incident involved a Cessna 182 aircraft on a training mission. The crash occurred about two kilometers from Malindi Airport, killing three people, including the pilot and two motorcycle riders struck during the landing. The Kenya Civil Aviation Authority (KCAA) confirmed the aircraft bore the registration 5Y-CDC.

Further analysis revealed that the original footage was first published by Nation Media Group on January 10, 2025, under the title “3 dead as light aircraft crashes on Malindi-Mombasa highway”. A reverse image search matched the wreckage in the TikTok post with Nation’s report, identifying distinctive features such as the white tail with green, black, and red stripes.

In addition to the misleading crash claim, the TikTok video promoted fraudulent USSD codes under the guise of the Kenyan government’s Hustler Fund, a financial inclusion initiative. Government sources have since clarified that the codes do not align with the official access format.

Duale, who became Health Cabinet Secretary on March 26, 2025, following a cabinet reshuffle by President William Ruto, has since been active in his duties. On the day the TikTok video was posted, he oversaw a contract signing at the Ministry of Health and later appeared on JKLive, a political talk show aired by Citizen TV.

This is not the first time Duale’s name has been linked to aircraft incidents. In July 2023, a military chopper accompanying his convoy during a security mission in Turkana County crashed. However, he was not onboard the downed aircraft at the time.

The latest false claims coincided with renewed public interest in an official investigation report released in April 2025, concerning the 2024 helicopter crash that killed Francis Ogolla, then Chief of Kenya’s Defence Forces. The report attributed that fatal crash to an engine malfunction.

There is currently no credible evidence to support any reports of Duale being involved in a recent aircraft incident. Government officials and fact-checking bodies urge the public to verify information before sharing, especially in politically sensitive contexts.

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