No evidence the UN cautioned Kenyan president William Ruto over deadly crackdown on protesters

IN SHORT: The deadly anti-tax protests in Kenya have made headlines around the world. But the United Nations has not warned Kenyan president William Ruto against using force to quell the protests.

A screenshot of what appears to be an X (formerly Twitter) post from the United Nations (UN) is circulating on social media in Kenya.

It is addressed to Kenyan president William Ruto and appears to warn him against using excessive force to suppress the anti-tax protests.

The post reads: "Respect the constitution and ensure the protection of citizens' rights. Facilitate peaceful demonstrations and uphold the principles of democracy. Any act of suppression or violence is unacceptable. Prioritize dialogue and respect human rights. The international community is closely monitoring the situation."

It is dated "Jun 24, 2024" with a timestamp of "4.00 PM".

The United Nations is a global organisation of governments from 193 states. Fifty-four are African countries, including Kenya.

The screenshot went viral at a time when the country was experiencing a series of protests against the 2024 finance bill. The deadly protests began on 18 June.

Most of the protesters were largely young people, referred to by local and international media as Generation Z or Gen Z. They called for the entire bill, which contains controversial tax hike proposals, to be scrapped.

On 26 June, Ruto announced the withdrawal of the bill but the demonstrations continued, with protesters demanding wider government reforms.

The screenshot has also been posted here and here.

But is it legit? We checked.

No such post from UN

We noticed that in the screenshot, the X account that posted the statement describes itself as a "Government official". This is a red flag because the UN is an organisation, not an individual.

It is also unlikely that the UN would confront the Kenyan president on social media. Such complaints would probably have been made through private diplomatic channels. Even if it had been done on social media, it would probably not have been in such a harsh tone.

We checked the UN's official X account and found no posts about Kenya on 24 June. An advanced X search for the post returned no results.

There is also a lack of mainstream media reporting on what would have been a newsworthy letter.

The post is fabricated and should be ignored.