No, Kenyan deputy president Gachagua didn't accuse president Ruto of 'turning against him'. Ignore doctored video
IN SHORT: A video of Kenyan deputy president Rigathi Gachagua allegedly confronting president William Ruto for turning against him is making rounds on social media. But it is fabricated.
A video showing Kenyan deputy president Rigathi Gachagua seemingly castigating the country's president William Ruto is circulating on social media.
In the video, Gachagua appears to accuse Ruto of turning against him politically: "William Ruto, nilimutoa kwa bar, alikuwa mlevi. Nikamuunda nikamsaidia, nikamfanya akakuwa raisi wa jamhuri ya Kenya. Amerogwa na Raila amenigeuka. Amenihangaisha. Umenitendea kama mnyama, umenitesa kama mtu hujui na mimi ndo nilikusaidia mpaka ukakuwa raisi wa Kenya. Sisi tumekupenda, tumekusadia, tulikuchukua wewe mtoto ya cerelac, hukua unajua chochote, hukua unajua bei ya unga."
This roughly translates to: "I rescued William Ruto from a bar. He was a drunkard. I built him and made him the president of the republic of Kenya. He has been bewitched by Raila Odinga and has turned against me. He has made me go through hell. You have treated me like an animal, you have made me suffer like a stranger yet am the one who helped you ascend to presidency. We have loved you, helped you and took you, a product of cerelac, who did not know anything, not even the price of flour."
Raila Odinga is Kenya's opposition leader. Odinga and Ruto have been bitter political rivals over the years and faced off in the 9 August 2022 presidential election, which Ruto won. But the two have recently been working together.
The video comes at a time when the politics of succession are rapidly gaining momentum. Ruto and Gachagua have long been political allies and even led an alliance that won the presidential election. Ruto became the president and Gachagua his deputy.
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But in May 2024, local media reported that Ruto and Gachagua had become political rivals, a claim that the government denies.
One of the videos making the claim has been viewed over 2.6 million times on Facebook.
But does it show Gachagua castigating Ruto? We checked.
Video is old, not about Ruto
Africa Check noted that in the video, Gachagua's lips are not in sync with his words. His gestures are also off. This suggests that the video may have been manipulated.
Africa Check picked up the phrase "nilimutoa kwa bar, alikuwa mlevi" from the video and searched for it on YouTube. It brought up several videos of Gachagua on a campaign trail in July 2022.
We found the original video from which the exact audio was extracted. It was first posted on 31 July while he was campaigning ahead of the 9 August general election.
In the original video, Gachagua says: "Mimi Rigathi Gachagua, ndio nilipatiwa Uhuru Kenyatta na Moi mwaka wa 2002. Hakuna kitu alijua. Nilimutoa kwa bar, alikuwa mlevi."
This translates to: "I, Rigathi Gachagua, was the one given Uhuru Kenyatta by former president Daniel Toroitich arap Moi in the year 2002. He did not know anything. I rescued him from the bar, he was a drunkard." He then continues to make other allegations.
In the original video, he was addressing former president Uhuru Kenyatta, not Ruto. Gachagua served as Kenyatta's personal assistant from 2002 to 2006, when Kenyatta was minister for local government.
The video in circulation is old and has been edited to make it look like Gachagua was attacking Ruto.
