ALTERED: This video isn’t of Gachagua’s message to Raila Odinga after losing AUC election
This video on TikTok and YouTube, supposedly of former Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua’s message to former Prime Minister Raila Odinga after he lost in the African Union Commission (AUC) chairperson’s election, is ALTERED.
The video depicts Gachagua issuing an address and is captioned: “Gachagua shocking message to Raila after loosing (sic) AU job! Raila wacha kulia nlisema tu (Raila, stop crying, I just said).”
In the video, Gachagua speaks to an unnamed president, expressing respect and accepting the president’s right to choose Raila Odinga as his preferred candidate without blame. However, he stresses that the president should, in turn, respect their right to make their own political decisions.
The caption gives the impression that Gachagua was referring to Odinga’s unsuccessful AUC bid, which had the support of President William Ruto.
But is the video authentic?
A Google reverse image search on a keyframe from the clip led PesaCheck to similar videos published here and here on 12 and 13 August 2021, respectively.
Using the dates above, PesaCheck performed a keyword search on YouTube and found similar videos published by Nation and Kericho News Alert.
The Nation video was published on 12 August 2021 with the title: “MP Rigathi Gachagua: Uhuru is within his rights to endorse Raila for the presidency.”
At the time, former President Uhuru Kenyatta was head of state, while Gachagua was the Member of Parliament for Mathira Constituency.
In August 2021, Odinga was a presidential candidate campaigning for the top office in the 2022 Kenya general elections. One of his main opponents was William Ruto, who was backed by Gachagua and other leaders.
Odinga’s bid for the AUC chairperson position was not officially declared until February 2024.
The video under investigation was manipulated by muting key sections where Gachagua refers to events predating Odinga’s AUC bid.
At the 01:04 minute mark, the altered video is muted, obscuring his statement. However, in the original version, Gachagua is heard saying in Kiswahili, “We would like to respectfully request our president that just as we have respected your right to support Raila, you also respect our right to support William Ruto.” This references the 2022 general election in Kenya, where Uhuru backed Raila while Gachagua supported Ruto.
Another muted section appears at minute 01:32, where Gachagua originally says: “Do not push us. Do not send Kinoti after us. Do not deploy the police to assault us with teargas. Do not use KRA against us. Instead, push Raila.” The omission of “Do not send Kinoti after us” removes a reference to George Kinoti, who served as the Director of Criminal Investigations (DCI) from 2018 until his resignation in September 2022.
Additional alterations occur at minutes 02:15 and 02:26. In the authentic video, Gachagua states: “We have spoken with our people and determined that the right person for us is William Ruto. So, you push your vehicle, and we will push ours, and let’s meet at the ballot; only 360 days remain.” The muted portions; “determined that the right person for us is William Ruto”and “only 360 days remain” reference the 2022 presidential election. In August 2021, roughly a year remained before the polls, equating to about 360 days.
Furthermore, following Odinga’s defeat, Gachagua praised him for putting up a “brave fight.” Media reports have also suggested that the former deputy president is open to working with Odinga.
PesaCheck examined a video on TikTok and YouTube supposedly of Rigathi Gachagua’s message to Raila Odinga after he emerged second in the (AUC) chairperson election and found it to be ALTERED.
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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.
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