Footage altered to falsely claim Kenya's ex-deputy leader apologised to president in 2025

AFP

09-04-2025

Kenyan President William Ruto went on a five-day tour of the Mount Kenya region earlier this month. Political tensions surrounded the tour due to last year's impeachment of former deputy president Rigathi Gachagua, who hails from the region. A day into the visit, a post shared on X claimed to show Gachagua apologising to Ruto. But the video is altered; the footage combines an AI-generated voice impersonating a Kenyan journalist and an old video of Gachagua asking Ruto for forgiveness before his impeachment in 2024.
'Former Deputy Gachagua (Riggy G) has apologised to President William Ruto days into Ruto's historic visit back to Mt Kenya yesterday he was at Nanyuki and nyeri to launch development projects, will these apology calm waters (sic)?' reads an X post published on April 2, 2025.
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Screenshot of the altered post, taken on April 4, 2025
In what looks like a news bulletin by Kenyan broadcaster Citizen TV, the chyron reads 'Gachagua to Ruto: Please forgive me' and 'Former deputy president seeks forgiveness from Pres. Ruto'.
Jeff Koinange, a news anchor at the media outlet, appears briefly at the beginning of the clip.
Although the accompanying audio sounds like his voice, it is out of sync with his lip movements.
'Deputy president Rigathi Gachagua has apologised to President William Ruto,' Koinange appears to say.
'Days into Ruto's historic visit back to central Kenya, Gachagua bows his head. A public apology watched by the whole nation. Will this apology calm the waters or is it just the eye of the storm? Folks, you can't make this stuff up. This is the story of the hour.'
Twenty-two seconds into the video, the clip cuts to Gachagua giving an address.
'To my brother President William Ruto, if in our zeal and commitment to work I have wronged you, please find it in your heart to forgive me. If my spouse in her duties for the boy child and her programme has wronged you in any way, find it in your heart to forgive her,' Gachagua says.
'To our members of parliament, if in the course of duty, through our utterances and actions, we have in one way or another upset you or wronged you, find it in your heart to forgive me,' he adds.
Gachagua-Ruto feud
Gachagua was impeached and subsequently removed from his role as deputy president on October 17, 2024, after falling out with Ruto (archived here and here).
He is now looking to unseat Ruto in the 2027 general election (archived here).
Speaking in an interview a day before he began a tour in the Mount Kenya region, where Gachagua comes from, Ruto blamed his ex-deputy for his own downfall. He accused Gachagua of creating conflicts and demanding billions to resolve political tensions in the region (archived here and here).
Gachagua, who has been fighting for political supremacy in the region since his ouster, responded by dismissing the claims as lies (archived here and here).
The video does not show Gachagua issuing an apology to Ruto amid the tour in his political backyard.
Doctored video
AFP Fact Check conducted reverse image searches on screengrabs from the clip shared on X and the results established that it was created using old, unrelated videos and audio generated with Artificial Intelligence (AI) software.
The footage of Koinange seen at the beginning of the clip was originally published by Citizen TV on March 2, 2025 (archived here).
The bulletin covered Gachagua's sustained attacks on Ruto. There was no mention of an apology.
Comparisons show that the images in the background showing Gachagua, opposition leader Kalonzo Musyoka and State House were edited out in the X video.
The font used for the chyron is also different in both videos.
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Screenshots comparing the altered post (left) and the original footage published by Citizen TV
While the clip of Gachagua's apology is authentic, it is not recent. The footage is from an address he gave on October 6, 2024, at his official Karen residence, days before he was impeached by the Senate (archived here).
Gachagua can be seen wearing the same attire in both videos, and the Kenyan and Israeli flags are visible in the background.
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Screenshots comparing the altered post (left) and the original footage published by Citizen TV
In the section featuring Koinange, the unnatural pauses in the audio, as well as the fact that it doesn't sync with the journalist's lip movements, are tell-tale signs that it is AI-generated.
AFP Fact Check ran the audio from this section through InVID-WeVerify's audio detection tool and the results suggested strong evidence of voice cloning.
The rest of the audio from Gachagua's address is authentic.
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Screenshot of InVID-WeVerify's voice cloning detector results, taken on April 4, 2025
We did not find any credible evidence of Gachagua recently issuing any sort of apology to Ruto.