FALSE: This photo wasn’t captured in Nairobi CBD on 1 October 2024
The image was initially published during the June 2024 anti-government protests.
These posts on Facebook and X (formerly Twitter) with a photo supposedly of the situation in Kenya’s Nairobi Central Business District (CBD) on 1 October 2024 are FALSE.
“Situation right now at Nairobi CBD #FREEMORARA,” reads the Facebook post.
The image depicts a group of individuals carrying placards and marching along a street.
One donned a sackcloth with the text: “If I die in the battlefield, tell Mama I did my best.”
A section of Kenyans, mainly the youth, had threatened to hold protests in Nairobi CBD on 1 October 2024, following the arrest of activist Morara Kebaso on 30 September 2024.
Kebaso was released on a KSh50,000 cash bail after appearing in court on 1 October 2024.
A Google reverse image search led PesaCheck to an image published by Turkish Radio and Television Corporation (TRT) Afrika on 26 June 2024, which predates the claim.
TRT Afrika published the photo alongside three others. The images were accompanied by a Kiswahili text that translates to: “The Kenya Medical Association has said at least 23 people have been killed and 30 others are being treated for gunshot wounds after a nationwide protest against a tax hike in Kenya on Tuesday.”
TRT Afrika’s post came a day after a section of Kenyans took to the streets on 25 June 2024, protesting against the government. The protest led to loss of lives and injuries.
The image was also shared here and here.
PesaChecked looked into posts on Facebook and X with a photo supposedly showing the situation in the Nairobi CBD on 1 October 2024 and found them to be FALSE.
This post is part of an ongoing series of PesaCheck fact-checks examining content marked as potential misinformation on Facebook and other social media platforms.
By partnering with Facebook and similar social media platforms, third-party fact-checking organisations like PesaCheck are helping to sort fact from fiction. We do this by giving the public deeper insight and context to posts they see in their social media feeds.
Have you spotted what you think is fake or false information on Facebook? Here’s how you can report. And, here’s more information on PesaCheck’s methodology for fact-checking questionable content.
This fact-check was written by PesaCheck fact-checker Rodgers Omondi and edited by PesaCheck senior copy editor Mary Mutisya and chief copy editor Stephen Ndegwa.
The article was approved for publication by PesaCheck managing editor Doreen Wainainah.
PesaCheck is East Africa’s first public finance fact-checking initiative. It was co-founded by Catherine Gicheru and Justin Arenstein, and is being incubated by the continent’s largest civic technology and data journalism accelerator: Code for Africa. It seeks to help the public separate fact from fiction in public pronouncements about the numbers that shape our world, with a special emphasis on pronouncements about public finances that shape government’s delivery of Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) public services, such as healthcare, rural development and access to water / sanitation. PesaCheck also tests the accuracy of media reportage. To find out more about the project, visit pesacheck.org.
