A joke by a Zimbabwean man about selling some of his toes to beat poverty has caused a stir online.
The reports about Zimbabweans trading their toes surfaced on social media early this week. The reports indicated that one could make as much as Ksh4.8 million for the body part.
Kenyans, being some of the heavy consumers of the internet in the continent, have turned the subject into hilarious memes that have been trending on Twitter for some days now.
While some of the tweeps suggested that the supposed buyers should visit Kenya, others, hilariously, expressed ‘interest’ in visiting the South African country in search of riches.
Some shared photos of luxury cars they would buy with their ‘hard-earned’ fortune.
Few hours after going to Zimbabwe mwili Mpya tutapewa mbinguni 😌😂 pic.twitter.com/k6lob7HBPj
— Shishi♊☯️ (@shishi_shilla) June 2, 2022
Me and my friends going to visit our friend who refused to join us to Zimbabwe 😂😂😂💔💔💔 pic.twitter.com/gp4mfD6DZB
— Your LANDlord ⛪⛪ (@OSTEOPOROSIST1) June 1, 2022
Tweeps from neighbouring countries, Tanzania and Uganda, also joined the conversation making the trend even more explosive.
“Mnipee direction ya Zimbabwe (Give me a direction to Zimbabwe),” @Goddie_Ke tweeted.
Another user wrote: “Talk to Kenyans about money and they go mad, they will sell you the toes and come and registers as disabled and earn monthly payments for the disabled.”
Mnipee direction ya Zimbabwe pic.twitter.com/or8QmmPJEZ
— JESUS (@Goddie_Ke) June 2, 2022
#zimbabwe toe centre😂🤣🤣 pic.twitter.com/RWkZGJbUCS
— Morio Wa Tuk🇰🇪 (@morio_wa_tuk) May 31, 2022
Hoax
The Zimbabwean government has since termed the reports about their nationals trading body parts to eke a living as false.
“As a government, we did research on the issue and we realised that it is false,” deputy minister of information, Kindness Paradza, was quoted as saying by a South African media.
He added: “These are social media reports aimed at tarnishing the image of the country”.
Those behind the rumours claimed that they made money by selling their toes to buyers who needed them for ritual purposes.
The reports surfaced online after a man jokingly claimed, in a video shared on social media, that he bought his Toyota Hilux DG6 truck after selling one of his toes.
