
Video shows two thieves robbing a man in Guyana, not Kenya
- This article is more than one year old.
- Published on November 23, 2022 at 14:34
- 2 min read
- By James OKONG'O, AFP South Africa, AFP Kenya
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The video was tweeted on November 11, 2022, and has been viewed more than 12,000 times.
“Nairobi is now a crime scene,” the tweet reads. “Watch thugs mugging innocent people in full glares of the cameras. Insecurity all over (sic).”

The clip shows a man approaching his victim from behind in the street and choking him while an accomplice goes through his pockets. The incident lasts just a few seconds.
The video was also shared in another tweet and on Facebook. Both posts claimed the incident happened in Nairobi and cited it as proof that the security in Kenya’s capital was deteriorating.
On November 16, 2022, President William Ruto ordered the deployment of special police units in Nairobi after a series of violent daytime robberies.
But the clip does not show a mugging in Kenya.
Clip from Guyana
Using the video verification tool InVID-WeVerify, AFP Fact Check ran reverse image searches on keyframes from the clip and found an article containing a screengrab from the video.
“CCTV footage helps cops nab two ‘choke and rob’ bandits,” reads the headline of the article published by Kaieteur News, a digital news site in Guyana, on February 10, 2022.

The article describes how two robbers stole money and a mobile phone from a businessman on Croal Street in Georgetown, the country’s capital.
According to the news site, the culprits were arrested and charged in court.
AFP Fact Check matched keyframes from the clip to the various screengrabs used in the media reports about the incident.

The Guyanese police department also confirmed the arrest of the two suspects on its official Facebook account.
The incident was also reported by other Guyanese news sites here and here.
Crime is a major problem in Georgetown and other regions of Guyana, a former British colony in South America with a population of less than a million people.
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