ALTERED: This video is not of Somali President watching Mogadishu protests in August 2024
The photo or video was recorded in early June 2024.
This post on Facebook with a video purportedly claiming to show Somalia’s President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud watching auto-rickshaw operators protesting in the streets of Mogadishu on 13 August 2024 is ALTERED.
The video shows President Mohamud sitting in what appears to be an office, watching the demonstrators as they direct their complaints to him.
The Somali text accompanying the post reads, “President, if your children live in luxury, I am also your son, do something for us… See more.”
The auto-rickshaw operators were protesting against an increase in license tax, as seen here, here, and here.
The 3:23-minute video in question is part of a longer video captured during the protest in the capital.
The Federation of Somali Journalists (FESOJ) conducted a Google reverse image search and established that the photo has been on the internet since June 2024.
The original image shows President Mohamud watching the United Nations General Assembly vote for Somalia to join the 15-member UN Security Council on 6 June 2024.
The image of the President appeared in an article published by the Somali Digest website on 6 June 2024, titled “Somalia Elected to the United Nations Security Council (UNSC).”
The same image also appeared on President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud’s Facebook page on 6 June 2024.
Somalia became a member of the 15-member UN Security Council after more than 51 years, following a vote in June 2024, as seen here and here.
PesaCheck has looked into a post on Facebook with a video purportedly claiming to show Somalia’s President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud watching auto-rickshaw operators protesting in the streets of Mogadishu on 13 August 2024, and found it to have been ALTERED.
This fact-check was produced by Federation of Somali Journalists (FESOJ) under the African Fact-Checking Incubator programme, with support from PesaCheck, Code for Africa’s fact-checking initiative, and the African Fact-Checking Alliance(AFCA).
