By Elijah Koome
A TikTok post published on August 21, 2026, from an account with the username Kenyan Daily Report TV claimed that President William Ruto has received a “red alert” from the ICC following a letter by a group of Kenyan lawyers. The clip contains superimposed text that reads “Ruto Kwisha,” translated to “Ruto is Finished.” In the audio, Citizen TV reporter Ayub Abdikadir reports on the meeting held in Karen and led by Martha Karua, calling on the ICC to initiate criminal investigations against Ruto due to the recent cases of political violence. At the time of review, the post had been viewed 245k times, received 269 comments, and shared 583 times.
Background
The International Criminal Court (ICC) was formed in 2001 as an independent organisation via the Rome Statute. The goal of the organisation is to investigate and prosecute individuals who have been responsible for grave crimes such as genocide and the use of child soldiers. If found guilty, individuals prosecuted by the ICC can be sentenced to prison, fined, or required to pay reparations to victims. Since its founding, the court has reviewed 34 cases and issued 13 convictions. In 2011, six Kenyans: William Ruto, Uhuru Kenyatta, Francis Muthaura, Joshua Sang, Hussein Ali, and Henry Kosgey, were summoned to the ICC in connection with possible crimes against humanity that occurred during the 2007-2008 post-election violence. While the cases eventually collapsed due to a lack of sufficient evidence, the court left open the possibility of reopening the cases if new evidence became available.
Verification
A Google reverse image search of a screenshot from the TikTok post shows that the clip was extracted from an authentic video posted by Citizen TV on August 19, 2026. In the original video, Citizen TV’s Ayub Abdikadir reports on a meeting of opposition leaders that took place on August 19, 20226. The meeting was led by opposition leaders including Martha Karua, James Orengo, and David Maraga. The leaders condemned the spate of violence that has been witnessed in various political campaigns in the past few months, most infamously in Homa Bay during the Linda Mwananchi rally that took place there on August 16, 2026. Reading the statement, Martha Karua requested the ICC court to “initiate an investigation” against President William Ruto, whom she called a “former ICC indictee.”
While the clip itself is authentic, there is no evidence that the superimposed text is factual. The ICC does not issue any “red alerts.” It only issues arrest warrants, and this is only done after a lengthy process that includes thorough investigations. At present, there are no Kenyan nationals who are being investigated by the ICC, including President Ruto, whose case collapsed in 2016. There is also no record of the ICC responding to the request made by the opposition leaders. If the ICC had responded to that request, that information would have been readily available in major media outlets given the significance of the ICC’s involvement in criminal cases.
Verdict
The claim that Ruto received a red alert from the ICC is FALSE.
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