Social media users in Kenya have shared a screenshot of a purported press release from the US Department of Treasury announcing sanctions against the East African nation's deputy president and three other ruling party members. The alleged statement claims that their US visas were revoked over their supposed links to "sponsored violence” during anti-government protests. However, this is false: US Treasury spokeswoman Morgan Finkelstein confirmed to AFP Fact Check that the department did not issue any such statement. The four politicians do not appear on any US sanctions list.

On March 30, 2023, as anti-government protests called by Kenyan opposition leader Raila Odinga entered the third day, a screenshot of a press release purportedly from the US Department of Treasury was shared online claiming the country’s deputy president Rigathi Gachagua and three other politicians from the ruling party had been sanctioned for "sponsoring violence".

This comes after Odinga accused Gachagua and politicians in the ruling party of hiring goons to cause mayhem during the demonstrations (see archived link).

“CHOICES have CONSEQUENCES" We do this again today PATRIOTS! #MaandamanoThursdays (sic),” opposition lawmaker, Junet Mohamed tweeted.

The same claim was repeated in more than 50 Facebook posts, including here, here and here.

The screenshot mimics the format of statements on the US Department of Treasury website but omits social media contact details, which usually appear below the...

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