NAIROBI, Kenya Nov 25 – A video circulating on Facebook showing controversial lawyer Miguna Miguna being roughed up in Kisumu was taken on August 25th 2012 and not in his recent visit as depicted.
In the video, the Canadian-based lawyer who had been deported by former President Uhuru Kenyatta’s regime is seen being roughed up by angry residents with the video claiming that it was his first visit to Kisumu after jetting back into the country.
The video went viral on Facebook after being posted by Takaba TV which has over 28,000 followers captioned as “Miguna Arrives in Kisumu !! The last time Dr. Miguna Miguna visited Kisumu HE did not like it.”
The video has since attracted over 363,000 views and 4,000 likes.
“Get in your car and leave immediately,” the agitated youth are heard shouting at him as they dragged him out.
In the fracas, Miguna lost his trademark cap and a shoe as he wrestled the attackers.
Kisumu is Raila Odinga’s political backyard, based on electoral commission results in the five times he has vied and lost the presidency.
In the 2022 general election, the county overwhelmingly voted for Odinga as he obtained 419,997 votes out of the 431,005 valid ones.
One Facebook fan, Andrew Atanga Nyamesege commented “Miguna has a right to visit Kisumu but should avoid his nonsense.”
Another Facebook follower commented on the video stating: “Really bad is it a must that every Luo must support Raila, Kenya is a democratic republic. so mean that Miguna can’t visit his home simply because he doesn’t support baba.”
A Fact Check on the video, however, shows that the video is old and was taken back in 2012.
It was taken in Mombasa County and not Kisumu County as posted in Facebook.
Miguna had faced the wrath of rowdy youths in Mombasa during a promotional tour of his book: Peeling Back the Mask: A Quest for Justice in Kenya.
The launch of the book was months to the 2013 polls where Odinga was a top contender and trouble broke out when the youth demanded to know who was funding Miguna to scuttle the former Prime Minister’s quest for the presidency.
Miguna worked as an aide to Odinga after the botched 2007 elections until late 2011, when he was sacked by the prime minister for being disloyal to the party in what prompted him to publish the explosive book that angered supporters of Odinga.
