Kenya was to lead a now-delayed international policing mission to quell gang violence in Haiti. But the X post reporting Africa’s “D-day style invasion” of the Caribbean country is not by CNN.

MARY ALEXANDER • 15 APRIL 2024

“Happening: Africa invades Haiti.”

That’s the breathless text added to what seems to be a screenshot of an X/Twitter post by CNN,  circulating on social media.*

The post is dated 12 March 2024 and uses the @CNN handle. It reads: “Kenyan present William Ruto reportedly called president Joe Biden to organize the purchase of ‘several dozen’ WW2 era amphibious landing crafts for a naval invasion of the Haitian coast.”

Text below adds: “African nations are about to launch a D-day style invasion on Haiti. Holy fuck.”

The D-Day naval invasion of France was a turning point in the second world war.

On 11 March, the troubled Caribbean island country of Haiti was plunged into fresh turmoil when unelected prime minister Ariel Henry resigned as organised criminal gangs tightened their grip on the country. Earlier in the month a state of emergency was declared after the gangs freed some 3,500 inmates from a prison in Port au Prince, the capital.

Henry came to power after the assassination of president Jovenel Moïse in 2021. In January 2024 he left Haiti to visit, among other countries, Kenya. There he signed a deal to fast-track a long-delayed agreement to send paramilitary police to help tackle Haiti’s gang violence.

He has been stranded outside the country ever since.

The Kenya-led international policing mission to Haiti was approved by the UN security council in October 2023. But the day after Henry’s resignation, Kenyan president William Ruto announced that the mission would be “paused”.

Did CNN really tweet that Ruto then asked US president Joe Biden to organise the purchase of “WW2 era amphibious landing crafts” for a “naval invasion” of Haiti?

Ways to spot a fake

There are several signs that the X post is fake.

• On CNN’s verified X account, the profile pic is square with the CNN logo in normal proportions. On the viral image the pic is round and the logo squashed horizontally.
• The post ends with “Twitter for iPhone”. X (then Twitter) removed identification of the app used to make a post – “Twitter for iPhone” or “Twitter for Android” – more than a year ago, in December 2022.
• It uses language that wouldn’t be posted by an international news organisation. Ruto’s title of “president” is misspelled as “present”, and “landing crafts” written instead of “landing craft”.

Several advanced searches for the post on the @CNN X account returned no results. The account hasn’t mentioned, for example, “William Ruto”, “amphibious landing crafts” or “naval invasion” since at least 1 March 2024.

No news of Kenya planning to invade Haiti could be found on any CNN website, or reported by any other media organisation. The X post is fake.

On 13 April Ruto welcomed the establishment of a transitional presidential council in Haiti, a move intended to begin the restoration of order in the country.

* Some claims posted on Facebook and Instagram may have been deleted by users after being rated via Meta’s Third-Party Fact-Checking Program.

Published by Africa Check on 19 April 2024