The claim was repeated elsewhere on Twitter and Facebook.
Protests against taxes
Rallies in Kenya turned deadly on June 25 when protesters forced their way into Parliament where lawmakers were voting on whether to pass the Finance Bill 2024. The proposed tax law was intended to introduce new levies and duties on a range of goods, including basic goods.
Amid growing unrest, President William Ruto eventually announced the withdrawal of the bill.
The youth-led demonstrations were initially largely peaceful, with thousands protesting in Nairobi and elsewhere in the country against the proposed tax increases.
But tensions flared sharply when police fired live rounds at the crowd who later ransacked the parliament complex.
AFP journalists saw three people lying motionless and bleeding profusely on the ground near parliament (archived here).
As the chaos deepened and crowds began to leave the city centre, reports circulated of a large police presence and live ammunition being fired in Githurai 45, near Nairobi.
The Law Society of Kenya called for an investigation into the alleged shootings, dubbed the “Githurai massacre” (archived here).
Newspapers spoke of confusion and the use of deadly force, with headlines such as “Domestic night of terror for Githurai residents” and “Conflicting death tolls, pain and anguish as families search for loved ones” being used to describe the events in Githurai (archived here and here).
However, the video of a crowd marching with tiki torches does not show a vigil in Githurai.
Fire Festival
Using the verification tool InVID WE Verify, we found the same video on TikTok, here and here, published on August 8, 2022 (archived here and here).
“Annual Dagomba fire festival Ghana,” reads one message. The Dagomba are an ethnic group.
In one of the TikTok clips, viewers use Dagbani, a widely spoken language in Northern Ghana.
According to reports in Ghana (see here, here and here), the festival is known as Bugum Chugu and is celebrated annually in the first month of the Dagomba lunar year (archived here, here and here).
The festival is celebrated with singing, dancing, drumming and waving of burning grass torches.
AFP Fact Check previously debunked the same video when it circulated in Burkina Faso with claims it showed a Pan-African march.
The owner of this TikTok account confirmed at the time that the clip was recorded in Yendi, a city in northern Ghana.
