FALSE: These photos showing an injured Boniface Mwangi are not recent

The photos are from 2015 when the activist had surgery.

This X (formerly Twitter) post with photos supposedly showing Kenyan activist Boniface Mwangi recently nursing facing injuries in is FALSE. 

The photos show Mwangi lying in what appears to be a hospital bed with a swollen face and a bandage on his nose. 

“NEWS FLASH: What happened to Boniface Mwangi? Boniface Mwangi is captured in recent pictures showing signs of serious injury on his face,” reads the text accompanying the images. 

Ghetto Radio performed a Google reverse image search and established that Mwangi posted the photos on Facebook on 7 November 2015. 

According to the Kenyan activist, the images were captured as he was recovering from a surgery known as Uvulopalatopharyngoplasty. 

In a statement on his Facebook page, Mwangi said he underwent the surgery after experiencing heavy snoring for about two years, which doctors said was because his left nostril was shut. 

The images were also published here and here.

The image was shared days after the vocal activist deactivated his X and Instagram accounts ahead of the anti-government protests on 8 August 2024.

Mwangi has been a key figure in the Kenyan anti-government protests and has been arrested severally. 

Ghetto Radio looked into an X post with photos supposedly showing Kenyan activist Boniface Mwangi nursing, facing injuries in August 2024 is FALSE. 

This fact-check was published by Ghetto Radio with support from Code for Africa’s PesaCheck and African Fact-Checking Alliance.