IN SHORT: A video seemingly showing Kenyan legislator Oscar Sudi struggling to take the oath of office in English continues to go viral on social media in Kenya. But it has been altered.
A video seemingly showing Kenyan legislator Oscar Sudi struggling to take an oath of office in English is circulating on Facebook and TikTok in Kenya.
In the video, he appears to be in the Kenyan parliament and misreading an oath written in English.
He seems to be saying: “I will … I will obedient this, this truly, this obey of ee … of ee unfaithful public, of ee of, of conse … conse … consenslus, consenslus, coseslus. I will ee … ewe mungu unisalimie.”
The Kiswahili part in the video translates as: “Oh God, greet me.”
During swearing-in ceremonies, this part in Swahili should be “Ewe mwenyezi mungu nisaidie” or “So help me God” in English.
The video is labelled: “Oscar Sudi’s oath of office that broke the internet.”
Sudi represents the Kapseret constituency in the national assembly.
Social media users who posted the video mocked the lawmaker for his inability to communicate.
Sudi was previously accused of forging his academic certificates and making a false declaration to Kenya’s Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission to be allowed to contest the 2013 general election. That year, candidates for the national assembly were required to provide proof of academic qualifications.
The court acquitted him of forgery, but this has not prevented some members of the public from questioning his academic qualifications.
One of the videos has been viewed over 359,000 times on Facebook.
But is it authentic? We checked.
Video edited
Africa Check noted that in the video, Sudi’s lips are not in sync with the audio. This suggests that the video may have been manipulated.
We also noted that what Sudi was saying in the video is different from the oath that Kenyan legislators assuming office are usually expected to make. It is unlikely that he would have read a different oath without being guided.
We searched for the phrase “oscar sudi swearing in” on YouTube and came across several videos of Sudi and other members of parliament taking the oath of office.
The original video was posted in September 2022. In the video, Sudi largely reads the oath as it is, save for a few mispronunciations. He reads the whole oath in English.
The video has been edited to make it look like Sudi was unable to read the oath coherently.
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