Thousands of mostly young Kenyans protested against the tax proposals presented by the president Willem Rutogovernment in its annual budget legislation in June 2024. Amid the tensions, a video emerged online claiming that the opposition leader Raila Odinga apparently urging supporters to join the rallies. But the clip has been shared out of context: it dates from April 2023, when Odinga called on his followers to take to the streets over the skyrocketing cost of living in Kenya.
The clamp by Odinga was posted to
Translated into English, the Swahili message reads: “This is a movement: if you don’t show up on Tuesday, get lost.”
The footage shows Odinga speaking to a cheering crowd.
“On Tuesday, Tuesday, we will join the protests,” he says in Swahili.
Tax law
Kenyans took to the streets in June to show against the government’s bill. Hashtags like #OccupyParliament and #RejectFinanceBill2024 are also trending on social media.
The proposal was presented to parliament in May and introduces several 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 promise to prioritize the poor.
AFP Factcheck has debunked claims that only the richest in Kenya would feel the pressure as a result of the bill (archived here).
On June 25, police opened fire on demonstrators stormed parliament, resulting in the deaths of at least five people. Parts of the building were set on fire as lawmakers passed the controversial tax hike bill (archived here).
However, the video shared on social media does not show Odinga inciting his followers to protest the bill.
Review Tuesday
Using the video verification tool InVID-WeVerify, we have a reverse image search on keyframes from the images.
This led to several longer versions of the clip, which were uploaded online over a year ago 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 of his Azimio la Umoja coalition visited an informal settlement in Nairobi to announce their plans to resume the weekly protests – Maandamano in Swahili – that were a regular feature at the time.
At 2:35” 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 elections and failing to control the rising cost of living.
Financial burdens
After a weekend break, organizers called for demonstrations against the 2024 Finance Act to resume on Tuesday, June 25.
Thousands responded to the call, prompting police to open fire tear gas to disperse the crowd (archived here).
Odinga is no longer at the forefront of the current protests as he was in 2023.
His latest ambitions to become the fifth chair of the AUC appears to have helped thaw relations with Ruto (archived here).
Candidates for the post are elected by the Assembly of Heads of State or Government for a four-year term, renewable once.
Odinga has won Ruto’s support in his bid to lead the AUC despite their bitter battle in the 2022 presidential election (archived here).
