Altered clips of news bulletins falsely claim Kenya sold territory and citizens to China
In October 2023, Kenyan President William Ruto led a delegation to Beijing to attend the third Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation, an initiative started by China in 2013 aimed at creating trade and infrastructure networks connecting Asia, Europe, Africa, and other regions that fall along the old Silk Road trade routes. Soon thereafter, two clips emerged online claiming the Kenyan government had sold nearly half of the country’s counties and some of its people to the Chinese state.