Kenyan TV anchors didn’t say Covid vaccines cause arthritis – ignore AI-generated video
IN SHORT: The video appears to be a Citizen TV report in which well-known journalists and a doctor allege that Covid-19 vaccines cause arthritis, and then go on to promote a “cure”. But the video is a fabrication.
A video circulating on Facebook in Kenya appears to show a Citizen TV news broadcast featuring anchor Ayub Abdikadir, journalist Jeff Koinange and Dr Catherine Nyongesa making serious allegations about Covid-19 vaccines.
The video seems to be a genuine Citizen TV report. According to the video, pharmaceutical companies Pfizer and Moderna released unsafe Covid-19 vaccines through corruption, which have since been causing widespread pain and arthritis.
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It further claims that Koinange has personally suffered severe health effects after vaccination, and that Dr Nyongesa has developed a remedy that can reverse vaccine-related joint damage.
The video has more than 169,000 views.
Context
Nyongesa is a radiation oncologist who co-founded the Texas Cancer Centre and practises at the Kenyatta National Hospital in the Kenyan capital, Nairobi.
Covid-19 is an infectious disease caused by the Sars-CoV-2 virus, first identified in late 2019. The disease led to a global pandemic, with vaccines rolled out worldwide from 2020 to reduce severe illness and deaths. While Covid-19 continues to circulate globally, it is now largely managed as part of routine healthcare, and vaccination remains recommended for people at risk of severe disease.
The circulating video suggests that Citizen TV and respected Kenyan public figures are openly accusing vaccines of causing harm and promoting a cure.
But is this true? We checked.
Video is fake
Although the video appears convincing at first glance and the voices sound like those of the people shown, it is not a genuine Citizen TV broadcast. The footage is stitched together from unrelated clips and manipulated using artificial intelligence tools to do voice cloning and lip-syncing.
The clip of Abdikadir appears to be taken from a real Citizen TV news appearance, with AI tools used to alter his lip movements and clone his voice to change what he originally said. A close examination of the footage reveals subtle inconsistencies in lip movements across the speakers, a common sign of AI manipulation.
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We searched for the source of the Koinange clip and found that it matched footage uploaded on 7 July 2020, roughly from the 33:45 mark. In the original video, Koinange was paying tribute to his late friend Bob Collymore and at one point discussed how Covid-19 restrictions had changed the world. He made none of the claims attributed to him in the fake video.
Likewise, the clip featuring Dr Nyongesa matched footage uploaded on 9 October 2021, when she was being interviewed about breast cancer. In that interview, she made no remarks about Covid-19 vaccines, conspiracies or miracle remedies.
There is no medical evidence linking Covid-19 vaccines to arthritis, and there is no record of Citizen TV ever airing such a report, which would trigger public debate.
In addition, legitimate news broadcasts do not end with prompts urging viewers to “click” to learn more about a treatment. This is a tactic commonly used in online health scams. Africa Check has previously debunked several similar health product scams.
The video is a fake. It uses AI to manufacture alarming and false claims with the apparent aim of frightening viewers with joint pain into buying a dubious product.