Posts falsely claim old video shows Kenyan protesters storming Kitale police station

On July 12, 2023, a Facebook page called Ghetto TV shared a short clip of the crowd with a “Breaking News” label.

The video, which has been viewed more than 6,000 times, was captioned: “Maandamano Wednesday: Protestors have taken over the main Police Station in Kitale. No one is coming in or going out.”

“Maandamano” means “protests” in Swahili.

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A screenshot of the false Facebook post, taken on July 14, 2023

The video circulated online against a backdrop of protests led by Odinga over tax hikes and the high cost of living.

The same claim was repeated in another Facebook post here as well as on TikTok.

The protesters can be heard chanting the word “ndovu” - Swahili for elephant.

But the clip is old and unrelated to the latest round of demonstrations in Kenya.

Old clip

The video is blurry, but the name “Criminal of Directorate Investigations (DCI) Headquarters” is visible on the front of the building that the crowd is charging towards.

The DCI is headquartered in the country’s capital Nairobi.

Images showing the entrance of these headquarters on the DCI’s website match the building in the video.

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Screenshots comparing an image of DCI headquarters’ main entrance from the official website (left) and the false post (right)

We searched for the keywords “protests at DCI” and among the results was an NTV report published on May 25, 2023. It features clashes between police and supporters of Maina Njenga, a former leader of the outlawed criminal gang Mungiki, who were protesting outside the DCI headquarters over his arrest (archived report).

In the TV report, the protesters are heard chanting “ndovu”, a similar chant to the one in the clip we are debunking.

A search for the keywords “Ndovu, Maina Njenga” revealed this article on the May protests which reported that the former gang leader’s supporters made this chant after his arrest (archived report).

“Njenga's supporters were also present chanting the words 'Ndovu’ to mean elephant,” the Star newspaper reported.

Additionally, we spotted the same footage in a Facebook post from May 25, 2023. According to the caption, it was taken during the protest over Njenga’s arrest (archived here).

High taxes

Six people were killed during the July 12 protests in Kenya, according to police.

The opposition’s call to protest was spurred by a new finance law aimed at generating more than $2.1 billion for the government's depleted coffers.

It provides for new taxes or increases on basic goods such as fuel, food and mobile money transfers, and a levy on all taxpayers to fund a housing scheme.