An image shared on Facebook with claims that it is of Tongaren in Bungoma County is false.
The image was shared on October 11, 2023, by Facebook user DJ dotty matrix, with the caption “Tanzanians and Ugandans this is Tongaren in Bungoma Kenya”.
Tongaren is a Constituency in Bungoma County, with Chikati John Murumba serving as the current Member of Parliament.
According to a reverse image search on Google, the image is of Europe’s tallest residential building – the Axa high-rise on the banks of the Rhine in Köln.
The image was first published in Heavy Lift News, an online magazine focusing on construction machines.
The image focused on Liebherr LTM 1750-9.1, an all-terrain crane used to hoist tower cranes onto the roof of the 45-storey Axa high-rise building during renovation.
The image was posted on October 5, 2023, in Heavy Lift News, and again on October 6, 2023, in Cranes Today.
“Today, the 147m high-rise is a listed building. This has made the renovation of its balconies quite a challenge, as noticeable changes to the building’s appearance are not permitted. To install the new, more weather-resistant balconies made of glass and aluminium, two tower cranes were mounted on the building’s roof at the end of June. An LTM 1750-9.1 played a key role in this project – with its 52m telescopic boom as well as a 15m mast extension and a 91m luffing jib, the mobile construction crane was tasked with lifting various parts of the two Coloniatower cranes high into the air,” Heavy Lift News reported.
Similar images were also posted on Alamy, confirming that the image was of Axa high-rise building.
Claims that the photo is of Tongaren are, therefore, false.
This fact check was published by Business Today with technical support from Code for Africa’s PesaCheck newsdesk, through the African Fact-Checking Alliance (AFCA).
