Back to Africa Check

No, photo not of Kenyan police officer and suspected murderer Kangogo moments before death

“This is just sad,” begins the caption of a photo posted on Facebook in July 2021. 

“Caroline had handed herself to police moments before her body was discovered. Together with her brother she went to police as instructed by them. Moments later she was found dead.”

The photo shows a woman in a yellow hoodie talking to two men in camouflage uniforms similar to those worn by Kenya’s administration police

The photo appeared soon after reports emerged that a police officer, corporal Caroline Kangogo, had killed two men and gone into hiding. She was last spotted wearing a yellow hoodie and black pants. 

Kangogo was found dead on 16 July at her parents’ compound in Elgeyo, Marakwet county. The case attracted widespread media coverage in the country.

But does the photo show her moments before she died? We checked.

Caroline_False

Photo of gender commission chair in Samburu 

Using a Google reverse image search, we found the photo on the Facebook page of Kenya’s National Gender and Equality Commission, a government body. 

The photo was posted on 5 July after the commission rescued a 12-year-old girl who had been gang-raped in Samburu county. 

According to the post, the photo shows commission chair Dr Joyce Mutinda with security officers and other officials in Samburu.

“The Commission today facilitated the rescue and evacuation of a 12-year-old girl who was gang raped by two men in Loosuk Division, in Samburu county,” the post reads.

“Chairperson Dr. Joyce Mutinda led by Samburu central sub-county police commander Alex Rotich and a contingent of police officers; sought the consent of the girl’s guardians through the area assistant chief.”

The photo is unrelated to Kangogo, and was taken in Samburu county.

Republish our content for free

Please complete this form to receive the HTML sharing code.

For publishers: what to do if your post is rated false

A fact-checker has rated your Facebook or Instagram post as “false”, “altered”, “partly false” or “missing context”. This could have serious consequences. What do you do?

Click on our guide for the steps you should follow.

Publishers guide

Africa Check teams up with Facebook

Africa Check is a partner in Meta's third-party fact-checking programme to help stop the spread of false information on social media.

The content we rate as “false” will be downgraded on Facebook and Instagram. This means fewer people will see it.

You can also help identify false information on Facebook. This guide explains how.

Add new comment

Restricted HTML

  • Allowed HTML tags: <a href hreflang> <em> <strong> <cite> <blockquote cite> <code> <ul type> <ol start type> <li> <dl> <dt> <dd> <h2 id> <h3 id> <h4 id> <h5 id> <h6 id>
  • Lines and paragraphs break automatically.
  • Web page addresses and email addresses turn into links automatically.
limit: 600 characters

Want to keep reading our fact-checks?

We will never charge you for verified, reliable information. Help us keep it that way by supporting our work.

Become a newsletter subscriber

Support independent fact-checking in Africa.