Video purportedly showing a new Meru County governor taking an oath of office is altered.
The video, showing Isaac Mutuma taking an oath of office as the new Meru Governor, was posted by Facebook user Murori wa Mworia – Mr Blessing, insinuating that Mutuma had taken over as the Governor of Meru.
“Freedom is coming,” he captioned the video.
The video was posted on October 10, 2023, days after Meru Members of the County Assembly (MCAs) tabled a motion to impeach the current governor Kawira Mwangaza. The motion to impeach Mwangaza was tabled on October 17, 2023.
Mwangaza faced several charges by the MCAs, including misappropriation and misuse of county resources, nepotism and related unethical practices, bullying, vilification and demeaning other leaders.
On October 26, 2023, Meru MCAs voted to impeach Governor Mwangaza, with all 59 MCAs present agreeing with the impeachment motion. 10 MCAs were absent.
On October 31, 2023, the Senate agreed the impeachment motion against Mwangaza would be heard and determined by way of a plenary.
Senate Speaker Amason Kingi ruled that the matter will be heard and determined within 10 days.
A Google reverse image search shows the original video was published by Citizen TV on 25 August 2022 during the swearing-in of Mutuma as Meru Deputy Governor.
At the time of publishing this article, the Senate had not yet decided the fate of Mwangaza regarding her impeachment.
Mutuma (the Deputy Governor) can only be sworn in as the new Governor if the Senate votes to impeach Mwangaza.
The video showing Mutuma taking oath of office as the new Meru Governor, is, therefore, altered.
This fact check was published by Business Today with technical support from Code for Africa’s PesaCheck newsdesk, through the African Fact-Checking Alliance (AFCA).
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