Fact Check - Does This Image Show Tension in Eastleigh Ahead of the ICJ Ruling on the Kenya-Somali Maritime Border?

By Nyakerario Omari

This tweet went up on the internet on October 12, 2021, a day after the International Court of Justice (ICJ) made its ruling on the dispute over a maritime delimitation between Kenya and Somalia. The tweet claimed, after this ruling, tension built up in Eastleigh, Kenya.

Background

On October 12, 2021, the United Nations’ top court ruled that there was no agreed maritime boundary between Kenya and Somalia. The ICJ ruled in favor of Somalia. The Kenyan government, however, rejected this ruling.

In a statement, President Uhuru Kenyatta said, “while Kenya is not surprised by the decision, it is profoundly concerned by the input of the decision and its implication on the Horn of Africa region and the international law generally”.

“at the very onset, Kenya wishes to indicate that it rejects in totality and does not recognise the findings and the decision,” President Kenyatta added.

According to this report by Deutsche Welle, the ICJ ruling is legally binding and cannot be appealed, though there is no mechanism to enforce it.

On the other hand, Somalia’s President Mohamed Abdullahi Farmajo expressed his gratitude to the ICJ saying, “this ruling exemplifies the integrity and transparency of the International Court of Justice.”

Verification

Reverse image searches of the image claimed to portray the situation in Eastleigh as at October 12, 2021 show that this image was shared on the internet as early as December 19, 2012 in an article by Deutsche Welle. According to this article, this image was taken during a police raid in Eastleigh, after a bomb attack in a minibus. A month earlier, on November 19, 2021, a Swahili article reporting on this attack was published, stating that seven people died and 30 others were injured in this attack.

Looking further, with keywords; ‘Eastleigh businesses closed’ between October 10 and October 14, 2021, results of a video taken on October 12, 2021 show businesses were still in operation.

Verdict

NO, this image does not show businesses closed in Eastleigh, Nairobi.

This story was produced by Africa Uncensored in partnership with Code for Africa with support from Deutsche Welle Akademie.