May 2024 photo of Ugandan MP used to falsely claim that Kenyan protestors attacked legislator in June
IN SHORT: Photos and videos documenting anti-tax protests in Kenya have been circulating on social media, but not all are accurate. One photo claims to show an MP injured by protesters, but is actually of a Ugandan MP.
A post on X (formerly Twitter) dated 25 June 2024, reads: "Tongaren MP John Chikati Murumba who voted yes for the Finance Bill 2024 amesalamiwa kidogo na wananchi!"
The Kiswahili part of the tweet roughly translates was "has been lightly greeted by citizens," metaphorically meaning he was beaten up. The post includes a photo of a man whose face is bruised and bleeding.
Tongaren is a constituency in Bungoma county in western Kenya.
The post alone has garnered over 1.6 million views, more than 6,300 reposts, and over 21,000 likes. Similar claims have also used the same photo, such as here, here, here, and here.
Context
Following the proposed 2024 Finance Bill, which included significant tax increases, Kenyans took to social media to express their discontent and call for the bill's rejection.
These online sentiments translated into mass street protests, with tens of thousands of protesters marching through major towns. Despite some concessions from the government, the bill passed its second reading.
This led to a planned week of protests, dubbed "7 days of rage", which included protests on 25 June, the day of the bill's third and final reading.
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That day saw the largest protests to date. Early in the day, parliament made amendments and passed the bill with 195 votes in favour and 106 against. In the capital Nairobi, some protesters overpowered the police and breached parliament grounds.
Some protesters were shot dead by the police, but others managed to enter the parliament buildings. These events were widely documented, with videos and photos shared in real-time on social media.
Some MPs were forced to hide within parliament and others who voted yes had their properties targeted. It was in the coverage of these events on social media that the photo in question began to circulate, claiming that Tongaren MP John Chikati had been attacked by protesters.
But is this claim true? We checked.
Photo shows Ugandan MP
A reverse image search reveals that the photo began circulating in May 2024 as shown in this tweet.
News articles from Ugandan media outlets shed light on the incident. The person in the photo is Ugandan MP Francis Mwijukye of Buhweju county, who was seriously injured in May 2024 when he was attacked by machete-wielding thugs over land grabbing issues involving church land.
The person in the photo is not Chikati as the posts claim. There are no credible news reports that Chikati was harmed during the Kenyan protests.
The claim that the photo shows Tongaren MP John Chikati being attacked by protesters during anti-tax protests is false. The man in the photo is actually a Ugandan MP who was attacked in a separate incident in Uganda.
