A post on Facebook shared this video, claiming to show Embakasi East member of parliament, Paul Ongili, alias Babu Owino, being arrested ahead of the opposition-led protests on July 19, 2023.
Background
Kenya has had a number of protests over the high cost of living and broadly, proposals for tax hikes in the Finance Act that is currently under suspension. According to a report on Nation, dozens of people lost their lives since the March 2023 protest. Ahead of a 3-day protest, the government closed schools in Nairobi, Mombasa and Kisumu. By mid-day July 19, 2023, protests had been reported in parts of Nairobi.
Verification
A reverse image search brings up this tweet by former President of the Law Society of Kenya, Nelson Havi. Going by the Citizen TV watermarks visible in this tweet, a search on YouTube provides the same video published on September 27, 2017. It shows Babu Owino being re-arrested after being arraigned at Milimani Law Courts for inciting violence.
An update from Babu Owino shared on July 18, 2023 confirmed his arrest after landing at the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport. He was detained at Wang’uru police station and later arraigned in court on July 21, 2023 and charged with conspiracy to commit subversive activities. He was released on a cash bail of Ksh100,000.
Verdict
This video claiming to show Babu Owino’s arrest ahead of the July 19, 2023 protests is misleading.
This fact check was published by Piga Firimbi with support from Code for Africa’s PesaCheck and African Fact-Checking Alliance.
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