Deputy Prime Minister’s Convoy Taken to Task in Goma? This Photo Comes From Kenya
A convoy with some minister was taken to task, but this photo does not reflect reality.
Tear gas, white smoke, surrounded by demonstrators – this is the image of a vehicle stormed by the population that has been circulating on social networks in the Democratic Republic of Congo for the past few days. According to Internet users, it’s the convoy of the Congolese Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of National Defense, Jean Pierre Bemba. It’s true that a convoy “of the delegation from Kinshasa” was attacked by a section of the population in Goma in the province of North Kivu, but this image has been taken out of context.
The image has been shared several times on Facebook , notably in this page entitled Infos.cd /24 which has 426,000 members, its publication made 827 likes and 227 comments, the photo was also used in this article of an online media bearing the name of volcans news.net and in several other accounts on Facebook.( 1 )
Quote: “A convoy belonging to VPM Bemba was subjected to projectiles this Sunday afternoon…”.
The facts
To verify the authenticity of this image, we conducted a reverse image search with Google image. The result took us to Kenya. The date is July 7, 2023. The events took place in Nairobi, during a demonstration in Kenya called by the opposition to denounce rising prices and new government taxes. The demonstrators had stormed the convoy of Raila Odinga, leader of the Kenyan opposition.
The same information was also published by the online media la presse accompanied by the same photo and TV5 monde. In conclusion, the image used by several Congolese Internet users as the attack on one of the cars in the convoy of Jean Pierre Bemba, Congolese Minister of Defense, is out of context.
Was Jean Pierre Bemba’s convoy attacked?
Angered by the recent event that led to the deaths of several people demonstrating in Goma against the presence of Monusco and the regional force (EAC), “some people threw projectiles at the convoy of Congolese minister Jean Pierre Bemba as it passed in front of the Unity stadium”, confirmed witnesses in Goma.
“Some of them even spent the night there, and in the morning, when Minister Bemba’s convoy was passing by, some people threw stones at the vehicles. In fact, some people were even arrested, but later released once they realized that they were not among those who had thrown stones at the convoy. A mob therefore improvised on the spot to throw the stones. It was Sunday morning”, confirmed Fidèle Kitsa, a fact-checker journalist based in Go
The team of the Deputy Prime Minister for Defence has a different view.
However, the Minister of Defense’s communication clarified to BALOBAKI CHECK that it was “the convoy of the entire delegation, not just that of Jean Pierre Bemba”. The delegation included the four ministers, the military governor, the FARDC auditor general and many other officers in the same motorcade. Numerous videos on social networks also show some of the minister’s supporters, happy to see him in Goma.
“The media battle on the eve of the elections is already being felt on the ground, and we all know that misinformation also has the aim of damaging the reputation of a potential political opponent”, comments Ange Kasongo, Fact-checking trainer.
Context
A Congolese government delegation was dispatched to Goma to assess the situation following the demonstrations that took place on August 30 in this part of eastern DRC, resulting in several deaths. The demonstration was organized by a religious sect called wazelendo against the presence of UN and regional forces in eastern DRC.
French version : Le Convoi D’un Vice Premier Ministre Pris À Partie À Goma ? Cette Photo Vient Du Kenya