Kenya: EU Ambassador Denounces Fake Travel Ban Reports After Kenyan Deputy President's Impeachment

7 November 2024
Africa Check (Johannesburg)
By Grace Gichuhi

EU ambassador denounces fake travel ban reports after Kenyan deputy president's impeachment

The impeachment of Kenya deputy president Rigathi Gachagua has dominated political dialogue in the country.

Following Gachagua's removal, president William Ruto appointed Kithure Kindiki as the new deputy president. Kindiki was sworn in on 1 November 2024.

It is in relation to the dramatic impeachment that a document has been making the rounds on Facebook. It claims that Gachagua has been declared persona non grata in several countries, including European Union (EU) member states, the United Kingdom, the United States and Canada.

The EU is a political and economic partnership of 27 European countries that collaborate to create shared policies, support economic integration, and ensure the free movement of people, goods, and services.

The supposed joint statement issued by various ambassadors and high commissioners praised the Kenyan parliament for its constitutional handling of the impeachment, underlining the importance of the separation of powers in a democracy.

The document also emphasises that the decision reflects Kenya's commitment to upholding the rule of law and sets an important precedent in Africa, affirming that no individual is above the law.

This joint statement also appears here and here.

A similar message can be found on a graphic supposedly published by the Kenyan news site Citizen Digital.

The graphic, dated 24 October 2024, reads: "Governments of USA, UK, Canada and EU issue travel ban against Gachagua and family following impeachment."

It includes a photo of Gachagua alongside his wife and two sons.

These messages appear here and here. (Note: See more instances at the end of this report.)

But has Gachagua really been banned from travelling to EU countries, the UK, the US and Canada? And did Citizen Digital publish this graphic? We took a closer look.

Ignore fake graphic and document

A review of the EU in Kenya's press releases and statements shows that they bear no resemblance to the document in circulation.

The graphic associated with Citizen Digital has an unusual format. It displays the URL as "WWW. citizen.digital" instead of the standard "www.citizen.digital".

Furthermore, a search of Citizen TV Kenya's official Facebook account did not turn up the graphic, where similar announcements are usually posted.

On 24 October, Henriette Geiger, the EU ambassador to Kenya, publicly labelled the document "FAKE".

The fake graphic has also been published here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here and here.

Read the original story, with links and other resources.
Africa Check is a non-partisan organisation which promotes accuracy in public debate and in the media. Twitter @AfricaCheck and www.africacheck.org

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