President William Ruto’s speech edited to falsely claim he would make life difficult for Kenyans

On June 29, 2023, a TikTok account shared an 18-second clip of Ruto speaking at an official event, with a Swahili caption that translates into English as: “Stop making noise at me. I am the one in charge of the government.”

In the clip, the Kenyan leader is heard purportedly saying: “Stop making noise. Do you understand? Who are you shouting at? Food prices cannot decrease. Let's be honest, I will make it difficult for you.”

The video has more than two million views and well over 16,000 shares.

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A screenshot of the misleading TikTok post, taken on August 24, 2023

Some online users who took the clip at face value expressed shock at what seemed like tactless comments from Ruto.

Kenyans have been struggling with soaring inflation, and the recent tax hikes by Ruto’s administration have further increased the cost of living (archived link).

However, Ruto’s speech in the TikTok video has been altered -- he did not promise to inflict further hardship on Kenyans.

Original speech

Using the video verification tool InVID-WeVerify, we conducted a reverse image search on multiple keyframes and located the longer version of Ruto’s address on the official YouTube channel for Kenya’s presidential residence known as the State House.

Ruto delivered the speech on June 26, 2023 during a meeting with owners of motorcycle taxis, popularly known as boda bodas.

The talks were held as the government rolled out its “Boda-Boda Care” programme, aimed at providing healthcare and emergency services to boda-boda riders, who play a critical role in Kenya’s transportation sector, employing more than 1.4 million people (archived here).

Ruto pinned his presidential campaign on uplifting boda-boda riders, whom he dubbed hustlers.

Edited video

However, close scrutiny of the approximately two-hour-long recording revealed that three sections were spliced to create the misleading video.

At the 1:38:46 mark, Ruto says: “These people who are trying me, I will make it hard for them.” Less than two minutes later, he remarks: “And I have told my friends, even if you protest with cooking pots on your heads, food prices cannot go down.”

In both instances, he was referring to the opposition parties who were holding street protests over the high cost of living, a housing levy, and government reforms.

Finally, Ruto says at 1:41:16 in the footage: “Stop making noise. Do you understand? Who are you shouting at?”

Here, Ruto was addressing internal wrangles among boda-boda riders, asking them to focus on making the sector thrive.

In the misleading TikTok video, the three parts have been rearranged and pieced together without any context to give the impression Ruto was unconcerned with Kenya’s economic crisis.