This tweet (archived here) claims that Azimio leader Raila Odinga has canceled planned Monday demonstrations. The tweet has a video showing Raila as he says “The meeting we were to have in Nairobi on Monday has been postponed because I will not be around” (Translated from Swahili). The video has also been shared here (archived).
Background
On February 14, 2023 Raila Odinga issued a 14 day ultimatum to President William Ruto and the Kenya Kwanza government to reduce the cost of living, end electoral deceit through a thorough audit of 2022 election servers and restore subsidies among other demands. The opposition leader said that upon failure to meet these demands he would call for mass action and a subsequent march to State House.
Upon expiry of Odinga’s ultimatum on March 9, he declared the official start of mass action which has seen protests in Kisumu as well as rallies across the country by Odinga and Azimio-allied leaders. Through posts on his official Twitter account, the opposition leader maintained that the demonstrations shall proceed as planned.
Verification
Through a search with keywords “Raila cancels planned rally” Piga Firimbi established that the video in the tweet is reference to the parallel Jamhuri day rally on December 12, 2022, where Odinga had canceled plans to attend the USA-Africa Summit.
Piga Firimbi also found that the clip in the tweet is part of Odinga’s speech before leaving for the summit and the consequential cancellation of the planned parallel Jamhuri Day rally on Monday, December 12, 2022. The full video is posted here and the part shown in the video on the tweet is at minute 26:24.
Verdict
The video in the tweet is NOT of Raila canceling the planned Monday, March 20 demonstrations.
This fact-check was edited by Piga Firimbi Fact-Checking Editor Linda Ngari.
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