IN SHORT: An image posted on social media in Kenya appears to show Kenyan lawmaker Oscar Sudi insulting protesters and daring them to vandalise his business. But the image has been photoshopped and the text fabricated.
An image going viral on social media shows Kenyan lawmaker Oscar Sudi seemingly waving two middle fingers and daring protesters in Kenya to vandalise a club linked to him again.
The image contains the text: "Kujeni mharibu tena maubwa Jei sei." The poorly written Kiswahili message translates to: "I dare you to come and vandalise it again you dogs, Gen Z."
"Oscar sudi Tena unatutusi.... tunakukuja round two," one user captioned the image on Facebook. The Kiswahili caption roughly translates to: "Oscar Sudi you are insulting us once again. We are coming (to vandalise) for the second time."
Sudi represents the Kapseret constituency in the national assembly.
The image started circulating just days after protesters vandalised and looted the club associated with Sudi. The club, known as Timba XO, is in Eldoret town in Uasin Gishu county in western Kenya.
Kenyans, largely led by young people referred to as Generation Z or Gen Z, took to the streets on 18 June 2024 to protest against the 2024 Finance Bill. The bill was first tabled in parliament in May and contained controversial tax hike proposals. In response, the government scrapped some of them, but the protesters remained adamant in their rejection of the entire bill.
Despite the protests, lawmakers approved the bill. After a bill is introduced in parliament, it has to pass through several key stages before it becomes law.
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On 26 June, Kenyan president William Ruto announced the withdrawal of the bill, but the demonstrations continued, with protesters demanding wider government reforms. These protests turned violent, resulting in deaths and destruction of property.
During the protests, false claims were made against politicians suspected of supporting the bill, and some had their properties targeted as a result.
But is the image and text quoting Sudi legit? We checked.
Product of photoshop
Sudi is known for using his social media accounts to express his views and update his followers on his daily activities and whereabouts. We found no such statement on his verified Facebook account.
We also couldn't find any news reports about this by any credible media organisation in Kenya.
The image used to spread the claim looks like it was photoshopped. Sudi's face appears to have been attached to another body.
The image is also blurred and the accompanying text doesn't mention where and when he made the statement.
Using the phrase "Oscar Sudi passport size photo" on Google, we were able to locate the original photo of his face, which was published on the Kenyan parliament's website. Sudi's face has been superimposed on another photo.
The image and the text were made up and should be ignored.
