The MCK desk investigates incidences of fake news. This report is for February 27 – March 5, 2021.
1. A tweet with an image claiming to show internally displaced women and children in Kenya during the post-election violence in 2007 is FAKE. The post, which was published on February 26, claimed that Deputy President William Ruto was involved in the burning of a congregation “full of women, children, the elderly and the disabled…” and castigates him for his apparent lack of remorse. The post said Ruto was instead “going round the Mount Kenya region, hoodwinking churches whereas Kiambaa church is a burnt shell”. The post does not cite to any proof in support of the allegation. A Google reverse image search shows that the photo shared on Twitter had been modified. The original image does not have fire in the background. We found that the original image was first used in 2012, in an article on Rwanda published by The Guardian. In the article, the image is credited to Dai Kurokawa from European Pressphoto Agency’s (EPA).
2. An image shared on Facebook showing the Senator for Muranga County Irungu Kang’ata running with the claim that he was photographed fleeing from a dangerous situation is FAKE. The post further added, “reggae is unstoppable”. The term reggae has been used in Kenya by former Prime Minister Raila Odinga and other politicians to refer colloquially to the Building Bridges Initiative and the push for a referendum to amend the Constitution. The image seems to have been taken from a viral video of the event that has been published by various media including Kenyans.co.ke. The caption of the video states that the senator showed up at the function late. However, in a Facebook post, the Senator claims that the article by Nairobi News mischaracterised the chronology of events.
3. A tweet with an image claiming to show internally displaced women and children running for their lives in 2007 as they escaped violent conflict is FAKE. The image shows women and children carrying their belongings, seeming to be heading to one destination. The post caption reads, “Every five years lives and properties worth millions are lost, as we head to 2022 we say No to divisive politics. We need to work together before, during and after elections.” A Google reverse image search shows that the photo has been altered. The original image does not have fire in the background. The original, unaltered image was shared by Julien Harneis, who first shared the photo on Flickr, which was reviewed and confirmed to be licenced under the term cc-by-sa-2.0. In his post, he confirmed that the photo was taken in November 2008, and shows events during the Nord-Kivu conflict in DR Congo.
4. A Facebook post with an image claiming to show Deputy President William Ruto, and his colleagues running for their lives in Trans Nzoia County is FAKE. The caption reads, “DP and his colleagues ran for their dear life when the youths disrupted the noisy meeting in Trans Nzoia today”. In the image, the DP and others, including Elgeyo Marakwet Senator Kipchumba Murkomen, and his Nairobi counterpart Johnson Sakaja, are seen running, smiles on their faces, which seems unlikely for people “running for dear life”. A Google reverse image search shows that the photo was first taken in 2015. The image was used in an article by The Standard with the caption, “DP William Ruto runs to receive the winning team.” This is after Kenyan athletes had gone to IAAF World Athletics Championships in China from August 22 to 30, 2015. The photo is credited to President Uhuru Kenyatta’s Twitter account. When this claim was made, on February 27, the DP had toured Trans Nzoia and Uasin Gishu counties.
5. Headline fabrication is on the increase. On March 1, 2021, the Star newspaper headline read, “Proposed: Tough new law to ban pornography” while the fabricated headline read “It’s Kiunjuri for Ruto’s Running mate”. The Deputy President has made it clear that he will be on the ballot for presidency in 2022, however he has not named his running mate. The Star warned its readers both on Facebook and Twitter that the headline was misleading and fake.
