None of these images are related to Uganda’s ongoing political troubles
- This article is more than one year old.
- Published on December 4, 2020 at 10:16
- 5 min read
- By Mary KULUNDU, AFP Kenya
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One Facebook post asking online users to pray for Uganda shared two images showing roads barricaded with burning debris and rising clouds of black smoke.
“Let's pray for our country Uganda! We need peace. Jesus, the Prince of Peace, please intervene,” reads the Facebook post that has since been shared more than 400 times.
A second Facebook post shared an image of a police officer appearing to stamp his boot-clad foot on the head of a man in a green jumper laying on the ground.
“GOD SAVE UGANDA,” reads the caption.
The third claim was shared in multiple Facebook posts (here, here and here) purporting to show a petrol station that was burnt down in protest against the arrest of Uganda’s presidential candidate Bobi Wine.
Dozens of people were killed in violent clashes between security forces and supporters of the detained opposition leader, who was arrested on November 18 ahead of a political rally in the run-up to the January 14 election. He has since been released on bail.
Two of the posts (here and here) claimed that the petrol station is located in Uganda’s capital Kampala and they identified it as a Shell petrol station, while another post claimed it in Fort Portal, a town in western Uganda.
However, while all the images linked to the various claims on Facebook are genuine, they were either taken in countries other than Uganda or unrelated to its current political turmoil.
Barricaded roads and black smoke
A reverse image search of the two pictures in the first Facebook post locates them in South Africa and Nigeria. The image showing a road barricaded with burning tyres was published in South Africa in 2017 and captured protests over poor social services and lack of development in the town of Ennerdale in Gauteng province.
The second image in the false Facebook post was taken in Nigeria’s capital Abuja by an AFP photographer during the recent EndSARS protests. A reverse image search led to this New York Times’ article.
“Nigerian Police fire teargas at people during clashes between youths in Apo, Abuja, Nigeria, on October 20, 2020, following the ongoing demonstrations against the unjustly brutality of the Nigerian Police Force Unit, the Special Anti-Robbery Squad,” reads the caption by AFP photographer Kola Sulaimon.
Officer stomping on man’s head
Another reverse image search, this time of the picture in the second Facebook post showing a man being assaulted by a police officer, reveals that it was taken during electoral reform protests in Kenya, four years ago.
In 2016, Kenya’s opposition leader Raila Odinga launched country-wide protests against the electoral body claiming that the commissioners were biased and that the general election scheduled for August 2017 would not be free and fair.
Police brutality as evidenced in the picture was widely reported in the media (here, here and here). At the same time, Kenya’s police oversight body known as the Independent Policing Oversight Authority (IPOA) used the picture (that we are debunking) in a report reviewing the conduct of the police during the electoral reforms protests.
Petrol station on fire
Lastly, a reverse image search of the picture of a petrol station on fire shows that the image was captured on September 21, 2020, weeks before protests against the arrest of Uganda’s presidential candidate Bobi Wine, reported here and here.
As this report here by a local television station describes, the petrol station is located in Entebbe and is identified as a Moka Energy fuel station. This is contrary to the locations (Kampala and Fort Portal) and the name (Shell) mentioned in the false Facebook posts. The incident was also reported here and here and is unrelated to the country’s recent spell of political upheaval.
JUST IN: Moka Energy fuel station at Mpala, Entebbe Road is on fire #NTVNews
— NTV UGANDA (@ntvuganda) September 21, 2020
The cause of fire is yet to be established. However, news reaching us indicates that two vehicles have been burnt. Police fire brigade is on ground to put out the fire.
?Media Lab pic.twitter.com/QYZWZdUthX
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