Truth About Al Jazeera's Article On Kenyatta Northland Invasion

Social media was on Monday, March 27 splashed with screenshots of an article by Al Jazeera regarding the invasion of Northlands City - owned by the Kenyatta family along the Nairobi Eastern Bypass.

The article titled Kenya in turmoil as government raids Kenyatta land had claimed that goons sponsored by President William Ruto's government had stormed the property without notice.

The article was captured as a live blog, with minute-by-minute updates of the daring invasion which occurred during the Azimio la Umoja mass protests staged on March 27.

Screenshot of an Al Jazeera article about the Northlands invasion, flagged as fake. /VIRALTEAKE

Viral Tea can authoritatively report that the image is fake, edited to make it look like a credible screenshot, and identified the following loopholes.

First of all, the cover image does not correspond with the live update, let alone the title. The story had shown protesters gathered around a fire holding Israeli flags.

Second, from spot checks we conducted on its official news website, Al Jazeera's last story about Kenya was published six hours from the time of publishing this story, titled Kenyan opposition leader Odinga says protests on despite police ban.

During the daring invasion, the individuals were reported to have gained access to the land by breaching the fence from the Kamakis side through the bypass.

In addition, the youth were reported to have carried sheep away from the land with videos showing a number of them, armed with power saws, cutting down the trees planted on the property.

The invasion which was staged on Northlands from the Eastern Bypass side near Kamakis saw the unknown individuals ferrying the sheep using motorcycles while others carried them on their shoulders as they hurriedly exited the area.

The goons also allegedly set the firm on fire but the motive behind the invasion was yet to be established. The fire later at night was later visibly seen through videos shared on social media.

Former Nyeri Town Member of Parliament Ngunjiri Wambugu had previously expressed that the invasion would prompt property owners to seek more dire methods of security.

Wambugu condemned the attack and noted that it would trigger a series of daring invasions similar to the Northlands one by unknown people without alerting the property owners beforehand.

"Whoever came up with the idea of having people invade the land of Kenya's Founding Father and the First President Jomo Kenyatta, in a world that's connected everywhere via the Internet, has done Kenya a lot of harm today.

"At this rate, what will stop a rich family from inviting young men and women to volunteer to protect their property if it becomes clear that their government will not protect them? Isn't this how private militias are formed?" he posed.

The daring invasion was also condemned by Azimio la Umoja leader, Raila Odinga who went on to blame Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua after his East Africa Spectre Limited gas plant was invaded by goons on the same day.