Clip shows Odinga galvanising protest supporters in 2023, not 2024
Thousands of mostly young Kenyans protested against the tax proposals presented by President William Ruto’s administration in its annual budget legislation in June 2024. Amid the tensions, a video emerged online claiming to show opposition leader Raila Odinga seemingly urging supporters to join the rallies. But the clip has been shared out of context: it dates back to April 2023 when Odinga called on his followers to take to the streets over Kenya’s sky-rocketing cost of living.
The clip of Odinga was posted on X on June 23, 2024 -- two days before another round of scheduled protests against the unpopular Finance Bill that threatens to introduce a raft of new taxes in Kenya, ranging from bread to sanitary pads.
Translated into English, the Swahili post reads: “This is a movement, if you fail to show up on Tuesday, get lost.”
The footage shows Odinga speaking in front of a wildly cheering crowd.
“Tuesday, Tuesday, we are joining the protests,” he says in Swahili.
Taxing law
Kenyans took to the streets in June to demonstrate against the government's bill. Hashtags like #OccupyParliament and #RejectFinanceBill2024 have also been trending on social media.
Presented to parliament in May, the proposal introduces various taxes and levies (archived here).
But critics argue the reforms will place an even heavier burden on struggling Kenyans -- contrary to Ruto’s 2022 election campaign pledge to prioritise the poor.
AFP Fact Check has debunked claims that only the richest in Kenya would feel the pinch as a result of the bill (archived here).
On June 25, police opened fire on demonstrators who stormed parliament, resulting in the deaths of at least five people. Sections of the building were set ablaze as lawmakers passed the controversial tax increase bill (archived here).
A day later, with the death toll having risen to more than 20, Ruto announced the bill would be revoked.
However, the video shared on social media does not show Odinga inciting his followers to protest against the bill days before Ruto said it would be withdrawn.
Throwback Tuesday
Using the video verification tool InVID-WeVerify, we conducted a reverse image search on keyframes from the footage.
This led to several longer versions of the clip, uploaded online over a year ago on YouTube and Facebook (archived here and here).
“Raila Odinga announces the return of Maandamano on Tuesday,” reads a Facebook post published by Channel 7 News TV, a local YouTube channel, on April 28, 2023.
On that day, Odinga and other top leaders from his Azimio la Umoja coalition visited an informal settlement in Nairobi to announce their plans to resume weekly protests – Maandamano in Swahili – that were a regular feature at the time.
At 14’35” in the YouTube video, Odinga calls for national protests to be held on “Tuesday” – but the date he was referring to was May 2, 2023.
At the time, Odinga accused Ruto of stealing the 2022 election and failing to control the rising cost of living.
Financial burden
After a weekend hiatus, organisers called for the demonstrations against the 2024 Finance Bill to resume on Tuesday, June 25.
Thousands heeded the call, prompting police to fire tear gas to disperse the crowds (archived here).
Odinga, meanwhile, has not been at the forefront of the current protests as he was in 2023.
His latest aspirations to become the fifth chairman of the AUC appear to have helped thaw relations with Ruto (archived here).
Candidates for the post are elected by the Assembly of Heads of State and Government for a four-year term, which can be renewed once.
Odinga has gained the support of Ruto in his bid to lead the AUC despite their bitter contest in the 2022 presidential elections(archived here).
June 26, 2024 Debunk updated to include Ruto's announcement about the bill's withdrawal
