A video posted on Facebook on 17 April 2022 shows Kenyan politician Catherine Waruguru, the women’s representative for Laikipia county, accusing deputy president William Ruto of sidelining the Kikuyu community.
She says, in Kiswahili: “Tutaketi chini kwa sababu wakati wa ugawi wa pesa za county, tuliona maadui zetu na marafiki zetu. Wakati pesa inasemakana itaongezwa kwa mlima, iko mtu akisikia ati nyinyi mnaongezewa pesa anakasirika. Lakini jumapili anakuja na milioni mbili inapatiwa constituency mzima ya watu 100,000. So Haisaidii.”
This translates as: “We will consult because, during the allocation of county funds, we got to know our friends and foes. When it is said that there will be more fund allocation in the Mount Kenya region, there is someone who gets bitter. But on Sundays, he comes with KSh2 million that he gives to a whole constituency with a population of 100,000. This doesn’t help.”
The video’s caption adds: “After Waruguru was robbed in the recent UDA nominations, looks like she has seen the light.”
On 14 April, United Democratic Alliance (UDA) held nominations for the upcoming general elections, scheduled for August. Ruto leads the party, and is running for president.
Waruguru lost her bid to run on the UDA ticket for member of parliament for the Laikipia east constituency. The nomination went to Amin Deddy.
“Mount Kenya” is shorthand for a vote-rich political construct of the Kikuyu, Meru and Embu communities, and counties where these communities are the majority.
But does the video really show Waruguru criticising Ruto shortly after losing the nomination? We checked.
Video almost two years old
The video has the watermark of Mutembei TV, a Kenyan YouTube channel.
We searched YouTube for the video using the key phrase “Cate Waruguru accusing Ruto: Mutembei TV”. We found it, uploaded on 19 September 2020.
At the time, Waruguru was still a member of president Uhuru Kenyatta’s ruling Jubilee Party, not the UDA. The video has nothing to do with the April 2022 UDA party nominations.
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Further Reading
A cloudy outlook? What we are learning about election disinformation in Africa and what you can do about it
As nearly a dozen countries prepare to hold presidential elections, the spread of disinformation is inflaming Africa's political landscape.
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