Image of Kenya’s Mike Sonko with Chinese investors unrelated to Vietnam death row inmate

“Mike Sonko in Vietnam to rescue Ndutaa (sic)...Sonko has just landed in Vietnam to negotiate the release of Margaret Nduta the lady who was supposed to be executed last evening for drug trafficking, will he manage? All the best Sonko,” reads the text overlay on a TikTok video published on March 18, 2025.

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Screenshot of the false post, taken on March 24, 2025

The video shows a photograph of Sonko posing with three individuals.

The post has been shared more than 1,100 times.

Nduta, 37, was found guilty of drug trafficking and handed a death sentence by the People’s Court in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, on March 6, 2025 (archived here).

She was arrested in July 2023 at the city's international airport with over two kilogrammes of cocaine concealed in a suitcase.

Her execution, which was scheduled for March 17, 2025, was postponed after Kenyan authorities intervened and filed an appeal (archived here).

Sonko, who was born Mbuvi Gideon Kioko, is known for his charitable endeavours and flashy lifestyle, as well as brushes with the law (archived here and here).

He served as senator and governor of Nairobi but was subsequently impeached and removed from office in 2020 (archived here, here and here).

The TikTok video purportedly showing Sonko in Vietnam to rescue Nduta is, however, false.

Chinese investors

AFP Fact Check conducted reverse image searches and found that the photo shared on TikTok was published on Sonko’s X account on March 17, 2025 (archived here).

“The work has started,” reads the post in Swahili, with no further context.

But, following the viral TikTok post, Sonko published a video with more detail about the image and dismissed claims of being in Vietnam (archived here).

“I have seen a silly story making rounds claiming that I have landed in Vietnam to stop Margaret Nduta’s execution. It is from a TikTok account under the username African sponsor. This picture is from yesterday and these are investors from China,” Sonko said, partly in Swahili.

“This is not Vietnam. From the photo, you can see this clock and the background in my office. The people in the photo are not even Vietnamese. They are Chinese,” he added as he pointed to the matching features in the video and his office.

Both videos show the red carpet as well as the gold clock and wallpaper in the background.

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Screenshots comparing the false TikTok post (left) and the video published by Sonko

The office, based in Nairobi's Upper Hill area, has also appeared in previous posts by Sonko (archived here and here).

In the X video, he also shows supplements and medication laid out on a table, saying they are the only “drugs” he deals with.

He has in the past  been linked to the drug trafficking trade in Kenya, accusations he denies (archived here and here).  

Additionally, Sonko urged the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) to track down and apprehend the individual who helped Nduta get the drugs into Vietnam and have them executed instead, arguing that she may have been a pawn.

A consulate team from Kenya’s ministry of foreign affairs arrived in Vietnam on March 22, 2025, ahead of Nduta’s execution appeal and confirmed that she was still alive (archived here).

Sonko's social media activity shows that he was at the Harambee Stars football match in Nairobi a day after the consulate team arrived in Vietnam (archived here).