Old clip falsely shared as showing Kenyan ex-leader's reaction to losing 2025 AUC race

Published on February 21, 2025 at 06:55
4 min read
By Peris GACHAHI, AFP Kenya

Kenya’s former leader Raila Odinga lost the race to lead the African Union Commission (AUC) to Djibouti’s foreign affairs minister in elections held in Ethiopia in February 2025. A TikTok video purports to show Odinga acting outraged following his defeat. But the claim is false: the footage was filmed in March 2023 when Odinga was barred from entering the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) headquarters in Nairobi. Contrary to the claim, the Kenyan leader conceded defeat and congratulated Mahamoud Ali Youssouf on his victory.

“Raila after he lost AUC,” reads the text overlay on a TikTok post published on February 15, 2025.

Screenshot of the false post, taken on February 18, 2025

“What kind of concessions? This is a public office, and I have a right to go inside. What law is that?” a visibly angry Odinga is seen saying in the video.

The post has been shared more than 280 times.

AUC elections

Odinga announced his intention to run for the chairmanship of the AUC in February 2024 with hopes of succeeding Chad’s Moussa Faki Mahamat for a four-year term (archived here and here).

He officially launched his candidacy in August 2024 with the backing of Kenyan President William Ruto, who rallied other African leaders to back Odinga (archived here, here and here).

However, Odinga lost to Youssouf after the vote held in Ethiopia's capital Addis Ababa on February 15, 2025 (archived here).

Odinga previously contested five presidential elections in Kenya, losing each one in 1997, 2007, 2013, 2017 and 2022 (archived here). He has in the past claimed the vote was stolen from him.

However, the video apparently showing him lashing out in anger after his AUC defeat is false.

Old video

AFP Fact Check conducted reverse image searches on keyframes from the clip to find the original footage.

A longer version of the video was published on the YouTube channel of Kenyan media outlet Citizen TV on March 7, 2023 (archived here).

The broadcaster reported that Odinga had been barred from entering the headquarters for the DCI where Fred Matiang’i, a former interior cabinet secretary, was being questioned.

Matiang’i had been summoned by the DCI to record a statement over an alleged police raid at his home (archived here).

Odinga can be seen wearing the same blue suit, and white and blue hat in both videos.

Screenshots comparing the false TikTok post (left) and the original footage published by Citizen TV

Other local news outlets reported on the incident (archived here and here).

Contrary to the claim made on TikTok, Odinga conceded defeat and congratulated Youssouf on winning the AUC seat (archived here).

He also urged Kenyans to refrain from “blame games” and speculating about his loss (archived here).

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