Claim
Photos capturing the Saba Saba protests as demonstrations commence nationwide.
Rating Justification
The iVerify Network of Fact-Checking Desks has fact-checked this content and established that it is Misleading.
To arrive to this conclusion, the iVerify Network of Fact-Checking Desks has conducted the
following process. A reverse image search reveals that the first image depicting a man standing beside a water cannon was first published in an article by The Standard on November 17, 2017. This photograph captures a moment during opposition protests following the re-run of the 2017 presidential election in Kenya. The image serves as documentation of the confrontations that occurred between the police and supporters of NASA during that period.
The second image depicting burning tires on the roadside is indeed from the Saba Saba protests that took place on July 7, 2023. The photo was captured at Kibuye on the Kisumu-Kakamega road in Kisumu in preparation for the Saba Saba protests.
The third photo depicts a supporter of opposition leader Raila Odinga from the former National Super Alliance (NASA) coalition. The NASA coalition was formed in January 2017, comprising various opposition center-left parties, with the purpose of opposing the then President Uhuru Kenyatta and the then Deputy President (now President) William Ruto during the 2017 general elections in Kenya. The image captures the moment when the supporter jumps from a bus after riot police deployed tear gas canisters to disperse the crowd following Raila Odinga’s swearing-in ceremony in Nairobi. The photograph in question was captured on January 31, 2018. It was initially shared in an article by The Star on February 1, 2018. Furthermore, Reuters also shared the same photograph on January 31, 2018, contributing to its wider distribution and reach. At that time, the police were searching for a NASA supporter who was allegedly involved in an attempt to shoot at a police vehicle prior to Raila’s unofficial swearing-in ceremony.
The last image was captured on first shared by The Star on March 20, 2023 in Kibra when protesters took to the streets to march against President William Ruto and the high cost of living.
