Old video shows former Kenyan president receiving charity award, not becoming a Mason

Amid ongoing tension between Kenya’s church leaders and President William Ruto, a video has resurfaced online claiming to show the late Daniel arap Moi, the country’s second president and a member of the same ethnic community as Ruto, being inducted into Freemasonry. In Kenya, Freemasonry has long been associated with devil worship in a country where over 80% of the population identifies as Christian. But the claim is false; the video dates back to 1980 and shows Moi being invested as a Knight of Grace of the Order of St John, a global charity with no connection to Freemasonry.

On October 15, 2024, a clip showing Moi in a black cloak, walking alongside others in similar attire in what appears to be an investiture ceremony, was shared on X with the caption: “The 2nd President Of The Republic Of Kenya, Daniel Toroitoch (Toroitich) Arap Moi, getting inducted into the Freemasons.”

Freemasonry is a centuries-old, worldwide fraternity that traditionally practises secret rituals. Its members deny there is anything pernicious about their customs.

The claim was repeated on X here and here.

For years, churches in Kenya have associated Freemasonry with devil worship, prompting widespread mistrust.

In 1994, Moi established a commission of inquiry into cult and devil worship in the East African nation.

This is not the first time the video has been used to spread misinformation, but its resurgence comes as Ruto faces backlash from church leaders over accusations of deceit, heavy taxation, corruption and broken promises (archived here).

One X post linked Ruto to the purported induction of Moi into Freemasonry.

“Ok, is this true that Moi was inducted into Freemason? Then that Sugoi merchant [referring to Ruto] isn’t any different,” reads the caption.

Last year, the same video was shared in posts praising Ruto for steering Kenya toward becoming a “holy nation”, allegedly in contrast to Moi.

“I want to congratulate president ruto for leading kenya into holy nation former president moi was founder of freemasons, the video below shows 1988 oath taking and the freemason hall in Eldoret near moi girls was constructed in the same year (sic),” reads the X post from 2023.

During the 2022 presidential election, Ruto’s courting of evangelical leaders saw him leverage the Christian vote (archived here).

Until recently, he enjoyed strong support from religious leaders, but that began to waver after Gen Z-led anti-tax protests accused the church of offering politicians a platform while failing to hold them accountable for their missteps.

The same video also made the rounds on X in 2020 (here and here) as Kenyans thronged parliament to view Moi’s body during the national mourning period.

“All Kenyans whether in Kabarak, Nairobi or anywhere else in the country can now see Moi’s initiation into the Freemason association,” a caption on one of the posts reads.

Moi, who remains the country’s longest-serving leader, died on February 4, 2020, aged 95.

But, the footage does not show Moi being inducted into Freemasonry.

Unrelated video

Using InVID-WeVerify to conduct a reverse image search on keyframes from the footage, we traced the original clip to the website of British Pathé, which archives old newsreels.

The original footage is credited to Reuters news agency (archived here).

The caption explains that the footage shows Moi being invested as a Knight of Grace of the Order of St John at the presidential residence in Nairobi on March 18, 1980.

“During the investiture ceremony President Moi was give (n) a mantle symbolising a duty to act in defence of the Christian faith and in the service of the poor, sick and suffering (sic),” reads part of the caption.

The Order of St John was founded around 1070 to care for pilgrims journeying to Jerusalem (archived here).

Today, the Christian organisation, which is registered as a charity in England, provides ambulance services, first aid training, and emergency medical care across various regions of the world. It is a Royal Order of Chivalry of the British Crown and bestows various honours and awards.

Saint John the Baptist and Saint John the Evangelist are considered patron saints both for the Order of St John and for Freemasons.

However, the Order of St John is not linked to Freemasonry.