A Facebook post claims the Sibut-Grimari road, a 120 km stretch connecting the two towns located 307 km northeast of Bangui, is in an impassable state. Posted on April 25, 2024, by a user named Arthur Koiropki, the publication states: “Impossible road Sibut-Grimari.”
The post garnered 65 likes, 18 comments, and 15 shares. It sparked strong and contradictory reactions among users, with comments like, “Where exactly?” or “Are you serious?” Another user who recently traveled the road on a motorbike responded strongly: “It’s important to clarify this location because I arrived in Bangui seven days ago by motorbike, and I didn’t think the road was in such a state. If anything, credit should be given for the good work done by the Londo project on the Sibut-Grimari road instead of misleading people with such images.”
The Photo is Authentic but Dates from October 2022, Not April 2024
A simple reverse image search did not yield any results that matched the source of the image. However, the photo is authentic, and no results corresponded to our searches.
Some clues helped us determine the source of the photo. The name of the author was indicated on the photo posted on Facebook. Centrafrique Check was able to contact Didier Kassaï, the author of the photo, via WhatsApp on May 28, 2024, at 9:12 AM. He confirmed that he took the photo and sent us all the photos he had taken, specifying the date: “This photo was taken by me on October 17, 2022, and published in the following days,” he confirmed.
As part of our verification, we also contacted a regular user of the Sibut-Grimari road.
Benoit Mbetioro, Technical Director of Radio la Voix de Kémo in Sibut, who frequently travels the Sibut-Grimari route, denied the poor condition of the road as portrayed on social media when contacted by phone on Wednesday, May 15, 2024, at 2:34 PM: “This is false information; the road is passable. MINUSCA also helped repair certain sections for the JIMA event held in Bambari,” he told Centrafrique Check.
Another clue: the photo was taken on October 17, 2022, during the rainy season, while the user posted this information on Wednesday, April 25, 2024, which is not related to the current state of this route.
Additionally, we checked the Facebook page of the LÖNDO RCA Project, a road maintenance project that rehabilitated the Sibut-Grimari section on May 28, 2024. A post on this page dated April 16, 2024, clearly states that the prefectures of Ouaka and Basse-Kotto have completed the 3rd rotation of HIMO (High-Intensity Labor) work, with the imminent launch of the 4th and final rotation. As usual, the LÖNDO PLUS project, with its manual road maintenance provisions, was in progress.
The post also mentioned that more than 100 kilometers of roads were rehabilitated and well-maintained, with the work being completed by March 2024. In the dry season, road users in this part of the country suffer less from the difficulties of road travel, and the local population praised LÖNDO PLUS, a government project, for its achievements.
Verdict
In conclusion, the photo showing the deteriorated Sibut-Grimari road is out of context. It dates from October 2022 and was not taken in April 2024, as verified by Centrafrique Check.
