A TikTok video claiming to show Kenyan President William Ruto and former Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua reuniting has been found to be ALTERED. The video, which depicts Ruto making an address from a podium with Gachagua and other politicians behind him, was found to have been edited. According to PesaCheck, the video is from May 2022, when Ruto announced Gachagua as his running mate.
The video shows Ruto introducing Gachagua and hailing his political prowess and insight. However, the text on the video misrepresents its actual context, suggesting a reconciliation between the two. In reality, Ruto and Gachagua, who won the 2022 general elections on a United Democratic Alliance Party ticket, fell out, and Gachagua was later impeached in October 2024.
PesaCheck compared the TikTok clip with original footage from May 2022 and found that the clip had been edited. The original footage shows Ruto referring to former Speaker Justin Muturi, not Gachagua, as the person who had guided the National Assembly for 10 years. The edited clip splices together segments in which Ruto referred to Muturi and Gachagua.
The original footage was published on May 15, 2022, and shows Ruto announcing Gachagua as his running mate. The videos also identify Ruto as deputy president, indicating that they were taken prior to Ruto being sworn in as President in September 2022. During the unveiling at Karen, Ruto acknowledged Kirinyaga Governor Anne Waiguru and current DP Kithure Kindiki, who were in the race for Ruto’s running mate.
There are no reports of a reconciliation between Ruto and Gachagua, and recent reports place Gachagua still in the opposition. Gachagua has been a critic of Ruto’s government and has propagated the political slogan ‘wantam,’ calling for Ruto’s removal from office. The edited clip has been misleading, suggesting a reconciliation between the two.
PesaCheck is East Africa’s first public finance fact-checking initiative, co-founded by Catherine Gicheru and Justin Arenstein. The initiative seeks to help the public separate fact from fiction in public pronouncements about the numbers that shape our world. PesaCheck has looked into the TikTok video and found it to be ALTERED, as part of its ongoing series of fact-checks examining content marked as potential misinformation on Facebook and other social media platforms.
The fact-check was written by PesaCheck fact-checker Harriet Ogayo and edited by PesaCheck senior copy editor Mary Mutisya. The article was approved for publication by PesaCheck managing editor Doreen Wainainah.
Key points
- The TikTok video claiming to show Ruto and Gachagua reuniting has been found to be ALTERED.
- The video is from May 2022, when Ruto announced Gachagua as his running mate.
- There are no reports of a reconciliation between Ruto and Gachagua.
