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Claim: A Facebook user claims that deposed Equatorial Guinea minister Baltasar Engonga took photographs with Kenya’s president and other women from Kenya.
Verdict: False. Findings show that the pictures that depict Mr Engonga with the President of Kenya and other female citizens in the country have been digitally altered.
Full Text
In November 2024, social media erupted with leaked videos of Baltasar Engonga, a high-profile government official and former Director-General of the National Financial Investigation Agency in Equatorial Guinea. The videos were reportedly discovered during a fraud investigation involving an impromptu check of his phone following his arrest for embezzlement.
The videos, numbering between 150 and 400, show Engonga engaging in sexual acts in his office and other locations with various women. Allegedly leaked by an unknown source, the footage has sparked widespread outrage, with many criticising the decadent lifestyles of government officials.
In the aftermath of the widely circulated video clips, a Facebook user, Mtagher Aggwei, on Friday, Nov 15, 2024, shared pictures of Mr Engonga with Kenya’s president and other public figures in Kenya.
The Facebook video caption reads, “Man of the year Baltasar Elijah Asema best friend from Equatorial Guinea. More pictures from Aseme’s best friend.”
The video generated four likes and comments as of Monday, Nov. 18, 2024.
Due to the tendency for people to spread fake news amidst such a public scandal, DUBAWA decided to verify the post.
Verification
DUBAWA carried out a Google Reverse Image Search on all images shared by the user on Facebook.
Among the shared pictures was one of Mr Engonga shaking hands with the Republic of Kenya’s president, William Ruto. However, Google Reverse Image Search shows a similar picture was shared via X on Feb. 27, 2024.
In the image, Mr Ruto and Ethiopia’s prime minister, Abiy Ahmed, are photographed chatting. Some media organisations also reported similar developments here and here in Feb. 2024. Besides, no information or public details have been provided about any public meeting between the ex-minister and Kenya’s president.
Original picture of Kenya president Ruto and Ethiopia president vs altered image featuring Mr Engonga Photo Source: Facebook
President Ruto and Prime Minister Ahmed were pictured dialoguing during the latter’s visit to Kenya in Feb. 2024. However, this was later edited to show Mr Engonga’s face replacing the prime minister and shared on Facebook in Nov. 2024.
In another picture showing Mr Engonga in the middle of two unidentified women, our search led us to a similar picture posted on Thread by Willy Paul, a Kenyan songwriter and producer.
He posted with the caption, “Chilling With My Beautiful Sisters, @mungai_eve and @liz_j.a.ckson. Something Big Coming.”
Here’s a picture of Kenyan songwriter and producer Willy Paul and an altered version with Mr Engonga’s. Photo Source: Thread/Facebook.
DUBAWA checked another picture posted by the claimant, which shows Mr Engonga sitting closely with Kenyan actress and producer Sandra Datcha, and found a similar picture posted on her official Thread page on Nov. 10, 2024.
In the picture, Ms Datcha appears to be in the company of a lawyer and human rights activist, Brian Weke. However, in the photographs shared by the Facebook user, Mr Weke was replaced with an image of Mr Engonga’s head sitting next to Ms Datcha.
The initial picture of Ms Datcha with lawyer and human rights activist Brian Weke was shared on Threads in Nov. 2024.
Original image of Datcha and Weke Vs the altered version Photo Source: Thread/Facebook.
In another edited image, Mr Baltasar is purportedly in the company of an unnamed female. However, DUBAWA saw an original X image showing Kenyan content creator Kevin Kinuthia with his close friend, Kungu.
The image was posted on Jul. 25, 2023, more than a year earlier before Mr Baltasar’s sex scandal.
Original Image of Mr Kinuthia, Kenyan content creator and his close friend vs the altered version Photo Source: X, Facebook
The image of Kenyan content creator Mr Kinuthia with a close friend was shared on Facebook in 2023 and reshared in 2024, with Engonga’s head photoshopped into it.
Furthermore, DUBAWA conducted a Google Reverse Image Search on another image showing Mr Engonga with an unknown woman, and it revealed a similar one that was shared on Facebook on Nov. 10, 2022.
In the post, an unnamed man cancels an upcoming wedding with his fiancee due to his intended wedding budget.
The Facebook post reads, “GOSSIP: Man Planning to Wed This Xmas Cancels Marriage Because Fiancee Said His N1m Wedding Budget is Not Enough.”
Moreover, both the lady’s head and the positioning of her legs in the copy with Mr Engonga appear to have been altered and differ from the original picture.
Picture of an unnamed man with his fiance vs the edited version showing Mr Engonga Photo Source: Facebook
The initial picture of an unnamed man with his fiancee was shared on Facebook in 2022, and its altered version involving Mr Baltasar was shared in 2024.
After a thorough investigation, DUBAWA identified irregularities in the images posted by the Facebook user. The Equatorial Guinea official featured in all the edited images consistently had the same head pose and wore identical glasses. Additionally, his posture did not align with the background activities or actions depicted in the images—key flaws indicating an altered image.
Moreover, we noticed that Mr Baltasar’s head, constantly used in the edited pictures, was taken from one of the pictures prominently used by media outlets here, here, and here to report his involved sex scandal.
Photo Source: Punch
Furthermore, DUBAWA has previously reported instances of misrepresentation and misinformation targeting Mr. Engonga, particularly since the emergence of the sex scandal trend (see here and here).
Conclusion
Our findings reveal that the pictures showing Mr Engonga with some Kenyan celebrities, including President Ruto, have been digitally altered.
