AI-generated video falsely shows Tanzanian officer 'burning' president Hassan's poster as proof that officers are 'tired of CCM regime'
IN SHORT: A video posted on social media appears to show a man in a Tanzanian police uniform setting fire to a large campaign poster of the country's president, Samia Suluhu Hassan. But analysis shows the clip is AI-generated and misrepresents real events.
A video posted on social media shows a man in a Tanzanian police uniform burning a large campaign poster bearing the image of president Samia Suluhu Hassan.
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"Even the officers in Tanzania are tired of the rogue CCM regime; they want Idi Amin Mama out," reads a caption to the video posted on X.
"CCM regime" refers to the long-standing dominance by the Chama Cha Mapinduzi in Tanzania, the party led by Hassan. The name translates to "the party of revolution".
"Idi Amin Mama" is a nickname used by Hassan's critics to liken her to the authoritarian former Ugandan president, Idi Amin.
The clip circulated against the backdrop of Tanzania's general election, held on 29 October 2025. The election was marred by violence, vandalism and deaths. Amid the unrest, Hassan was sworn in as president.
The African Union's election monitoring team observed the vote and declared that it failed to meet democratic standards.
It is in this tense political and human rights context that the video of the police protest spread online, presented as proof that even security officers had turned against the government.
The video quickly went viral, drawing considerable engagement across social media.
But is it credible? We checked.
AI-generated video
Africa Check closely examined the video and found signs that it may have been generated using artificial intelligence (AI) tools. For instance, at points in the video, the officer appears to hold flames with his bare hands and when he moves to kick the poster, the proportions of his body distort unnaturally.
We also did a reverse image search on keyframes extracted from the clip using the video-verification tool InVID-WeVerify. The search led us to a photo published on 30 October.
The photo is credited to Thomas Mukoya, a photographer at Reuters, and is captioned: "A Tanzanian riot police officer walks past a vandalised campaign poster of President Samia Suluhu Hassan, following a protest a day after a general election marred by violent demonstrations over the exclusion of two leading opposition candidates at the Namanga One-Post Border crossing point between Kenya and Tanzania, October 30, 2025."
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We closely examined the viral clip and compared it with the Reuters photo. While the two are very similar, specific differences strongly indicate that the footage is an AI-generated manipulation of the original photo.
In the Reuters photo, the officer's holstered pistol is clearly visible. In the viral clip, this changes from frame to frame. At some points, the holster seems to disappear entirely, while at others it appears to morph into a rectangular object resembling a mobile phone in his pocket.
On the poster, Hassan's lips are slightly apart in the photo and at the beginning of the video. By the end of the clip, however, Hassan's lips appear fully closed and the colour of her lips have changed. These are signs of digital alteration.
These inconsistencies show that the footage is not authentic video of a real-world incident but a manipulated animation based on a photo.
The video in circulation is fake and misleading.
