Old video passed off as African leader criticizing ECOWAS over recent coup in Niger

By: Umme Kulsum
August 7 2023

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Context

A military coup took place in Niger in July 2023, during which President Mohamed Bazoum was detained. The commander of the presidential guard, general Abdourahamane Tchiani, proclaimed himself the new leader. Several social media users shared false and misleading narratives linking them to the military coup in the West African country.

Amid this, a video of a political speech is being circulated on social media, claiming that an African leader cut the leaders of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) over the recent coup in Niger. The Facebook post featuring the clip shows a man dressed in a white gown and a white head cap addressing a crowd. Post was captioned, "Breaking!!! Africa Leader Blast ECOWAS Over Coup In Niger, Says, "You Are not Representing Us" Salute Militarily Action. Gbam!." The post has 306,000 views and 7,4000 likes at the time of writing this story. Another Facebook post with over 446,000 views and 10,000 likes featured the same video and was captioned, "You Are Not Representing Us' Africa Leader Blast ECOWAS Over Coup In Niger, Salute Military Action." 

However, this video predates the recent coup in Niger.

 In fact

Logically Facts was able to find a longer version of the viral video shared on Facebook by Kerr Fatou, a media platform active in Gambia, a West African country. The video was shared on December 25, 2022, and was captioned," GDC Leader Hon. Mama Kandeh's Closing remarks at the GDC Congress in Jarra Soma." This confirms that the video predates the current coup in Niger.

An article published by Kerr Fatou on December 27, 2022, talks about the same event stating that Kandeh criticized ECOWAS leaders for planning to set up an "anti-coup unit" during that time. According to Anadolu Agency (AA), in December of that year, ECOWAS leaders agreed to establish a regional force to act against violent insurgency in West African territories. Following this announcement, the Secretary-General and Party Leader of the Gambia Democratic Congress (GDC), Hon. Mama Kandeh, made a jab at the regional bloc's intention to establish an anti-coup force when addressing the GDC party's gathering in Jarra Soma on December 25, 2022.

Kandeh's remarks during the GDC'S National Congress in Jarra Soma last year were also covered by The Point, another Gambian news outlet. 

The verdict

An old video is being falsely shared to claim that an "African leader" is criticizing ECOWAS over the recent Niger coup. This clip has nothing to do with the recent crisis in Niger. Therefore, we have marked this claim as false.