Old photos, audio falsely used to claim Kenya's leader reconciles with impeached ex-deputy

“Latest news..!!!! Ruto meets Gachagua, as he asks for forgiveness and promises to work together” and “Ruto reunites with Gachagua,” reads text overlaid on a TikTok post published on 25 October 2024.

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Screenshot of the false post, taken on December 10, 2024

“To the great people of the Republic of Kenya, I know we have tried our best. We may not have done as much as you’d have expected of us,” Ruto is heard saying in the video clip.

“We have not been as united as we should have been. We have failed in some areas; we ask -- and specifically myself -- I ask for your forgiveness. I know also in this journey many people have hurt me.”

Featured in the clip are two photographs of Ruto and Gachagua being cordial.

Strained political alliances

On October 17, 2024, the Kenyan Senate voted to remove Gachagua, making him the first deputy president to be ousted in this manner since impeachment was introduced in Kenya’s 2010 constitution (archived here and here).

Kenya's president and his deputy fell out two years after taking office, with the camps trading barbs over accusations of betrayal (archived here).

As deputy president in the previous government, Ruto himself had a falling-out with then-president Kenyatta (archived here). Citing humiliation from Kenyatta’s supporters, he vowed at the time not to allow his deputy to suffer the same fate if he were elected president in the 2022 polls (archived here).

Ruto and Gachagua met for the first time since the impeachment at an event commemorating the consecration and installation of Bishop Kimani Ndung’u in Embu County on November 16. 

Gachagua sat among the congregation but the pair did not speak. It was also the first time since Ruto’s swearing-in ceremony in September 2022 that he and Kenyatta shared a stage (archived here).

The TikTok post of the purported reunion between the estranged Kenyan leaders is, however, false.

Unrelated images and audio

AFP Fact Check conducted reverse image searches and found news reports from October 2024 with the same images featured in the TikTok post.

“Kenya’s President-elect William Ruto, left, and Rigathi Gachagua during the 2022 election season,” reads the caption below the photo of the two men shaking hands, which was featured in an October 18 Al Jazeera article (archived here).

The image of the duo holding their watches next to former second lady Dorcas Rigathi appeared in a story published on October 11, 2024 by The Kenya Times (archived here).

“President William Ruto and DP Rigathi Gachagua during Mashujaa Day Celebrations October 20, 2023,” the caption reads.

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Screenshots of the original images published by Al Jazeera (left) and The Kenya Times (right)

Using keywords from the audio, AFP Fact Check found that it was taken from a speech Ruto gave during the 2022 national prayer breakfast (see from minute 2’18”; archived here).

At the time, Ruto was Kenyatta’s deputy.

Starting at 2’56”, Ruto asked for forgiveness from Kenyatta during the address.

“I also know that serving as deputy president, I may have fallen short of expectations of my boss, his excellency the president, my good friend I ask for your forgiveness,” he said.