IN SHORT: As anti-government protests continue in Kenya, we have found no evidence that the Ugandan president encouraged his Kenyan counterpart to allow soldiers to deal with the demonstrators. The quote attributed to Yoweri Museveni has been fabricated.
A Facebook post doing the rounds on social media in Kenya attributes a controversial quote to Ugandan president Yoweri Museveni.
He is quoted as urging Kenyan president William Ruto to use the Kenya Defence Forces (KDF) to clamp down on protesters.
"My friend President Ruto stop being too soft with those children you have well trained military let them loose so that they can deal with those thugs the way am dealing with Ugandans. Remember that Africa children are very stubborn but they fear death," reads the quote.
The KDF comprises the Kenya Army, Kenya Air Force and Kenya Navy.
Kenya has been facing a series of protests led by young people since 18 June 2024. They were sparked by the unpopular 2024 Finance Bill, which included controversial tax hike proposals.
The demonstrations continued even after Ruto withdrew the bill and sacked almost his entire cabinet. They have since shifted to demanding better governance and Ruto's resignation.
On 26 June, Kenyan lawmakers approved the deployment of KDF soldiers to support the police. The army deployment followed deadly protests the day before, when demonstrators overpowered police to enter Kenya's parliament and set part of it ablaze.
But did Museveni utter those words? We checked.
No evidence
The Facebook post doesn't give details of when or where Museveni made the statement. This lack of detail is often a red flag that a quote circulating on social media is fabricated.
We noticed that the post was poorly written. It lacks important punctuation such as commas and full stops, and where there are full stops, they are awkwardly placed. This is uncharacteristic of a president's post, or that from a reputable media house.
The post is conspicuously missing from the internet, despite its potential to attract local and international media attention. This is unusual for such a statement.
We have found no evidence that Museveni said this, or that any media house quoted him as saying it.
