Social media was on Sunday, July 2, flooded with photos of former Mombasa Governor Ali Hassan Joho wearing a T-Shirt branded with the United Democratic Alliance (UDA) logo.
In the image, Joho was seen holding a phone while former Mombasa County Executive Committee(CEC) Member in charge of Transport, Infrastructure and Public Works Taufiq Balala stood beside him.
The former governor wore a radiant yellow T-shirt and blue jeans while Balala was wearing a grey T-shirt and blue jeans.
The image was reposted by several individuals throughout the day. However, the first person to share the image was a Twitter user with the username 'The Kaslim.'
A majority of Kenyans wondered if the loyal Azimio supporter had ditched the party for UDA because the image was captioned "Mombasa Governor Ali Hassan Joho has officially ditched Raila's ODM Party and joined the ruling UDA Party."
Others, however, refuted the claims stating that the former governor was loyal to Azimio leader Raila Odinga and could not make such a hasty decision.
"I'm yet to believe that Joho can join UDA for his business survival. Meaning his interest was self-survival only. Let Former governor Mombasa come out and declare his political stand," a user demanded.
Fact Check
However, a Google reverse search done by Kenyans.co.ke determined that the image had not been previously posted online.
Kenyans.co.ke, further did a deep dive search and determined that Taufiq Balala had five days prior posted a similar image.
In the image, Joho was wearing a yellow unbranded T-shirt and blue jeans while Balala wore a grey T-shirt and blue jeans.
This indicated that the image may have been manipulated and the branding added to deceive others or propagate an unknown agenda.
After a period of absence from political activities, Joho on April 21, resurfaced declaring his loyalty to Azimio adding that he would fully participate in Azimio's protests.
He explained that he was not active in political activities since he had left the country to seek medical treatment. He, however, noted he had recovered fully and reiterated his loyalty to opposition leader Raila Odinga.
