Focus on Africa: Hundreds of stolen social media identities used to spread propaganda

Summary

Africa Daily – Focus on Africa: Hundreds of Stolen Social Media Identities Used to Spread Propaganda

Episode Date: October 23, 2025
Host: Nyasha Michelle (BBC World Service)
Key Guests:

• Mungai Ngine (Journalist, BBC Global Disinformation Unit)
• Oluwale Ojewale (Regional Coordinator, Institute for Security Studies, Dakar)
• Father Anthony Kiplagat (Catholic Priest, Eldoret Diocese, Kenya)

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Overview

This episode of Focus on Africa delves into a BBC investigation that uncovered a network of hundreds of fake social media accounts impersonating Somali and Muslim influencers to spread political propaganda. The episode also covers recent political changes in Chad, where presidential term limits were removed, and discusses the Kenyan Catholic Church’s move to introduce a new altar wine for Mass to curb its misuse.

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1. The Stolen Identities Propaganda Network (01:12–12:01)

Core Investigation

• Discovery & Scope:
  A BBC team identified over 100 fake accounts (mainly on X/Twitter), which posted 47,000+ propaganda-laden posts since January 2023, reaching an estimated 215 million users.
• Impersonated Identities:
  The fake profiles often used images of young women, stolen from real influencers, and posted in English, Somali, and predominantly Arabic.

How Investigation Began

• Mungai Ngine: “This investigation actually started from a tweet... We saw it was more than one account... and then we sort of grew it, initially manually, and then we moved to social media investigation software.” (03:14)
• Accounts often used identical or similar profile images and pushed content praising Somali government, military, and Somali nationalism.
• Many accounts posted positive imagery unrelated to politics, e.g., “Today is a very beautiful day... with a very beautiful picture of a Somali woman sitting by the beach.” (06:30)

Platforms Targeted

• Primarily X/Twitter, and to a much lesser degree, TikTok and Facebook. “We also attempted to look at TikTok and Facebook as well... but didn’t find as many as we found on X.” (04:28)
• Investigation was harder on Facebook and TikTok due to reduced investigator access and platform structure. (05:46)

Target Demographics

• Accounts targeted young people, especially millennials and Gen Z, who form the core demographic on African social platforms. (06:30)

Stolen Images—Victim Impact

• Some women didn’t even have accounts on the platforms where their images were used.
• One influencer: “It’s really frustrating and really a threat to what she was trying to build.” (08:09)
• Another victim’s mother: “Her daughter is underage... she does not subscribe to that kind of politics.” (08:09)

The Propaganda’s Purpose

• Content sought to bolster the Somali government’s image and sometimes to promote unrelated regional events, aligning closely with UAE foreign policy interests.
• “These accounts align with the UAE’s foreign policy... influence campaigns are often run by PR companies who could be hired by anyone.” (09:21)

Analysis of Network Structure

• Believed to be a single organized operation:
  “We think it’s a single organized network... displaying the same behavior across neighboring countries like Sudan, Ethiopia, and in North Africa—Algeria, Tunisia, possibly Nigeria and Kenya as well.” (10:12)

Advice on Prevention & Detection

• For ordinary users: Make profiles private, use low-res or watermarked images, report impersonation.
• For influencers: Be vigilant; only you can effectively report and get fake accounts removed.
• “The best person who can actually report that account and for it to be taken down is yourself.” (11:29)

Notable Quotes

• On network expansion:
  "We got to about 111 accounts... although on these two platforms [TikTok and Facebook] we didn't find as many as we found on X." — Mungai Ngine (04:28)
• On user advice:
  "You can start by making your profile private... for influencers, using watermark on your image will automatically just tell someone... this image was taken from the person who owns the watermark." — Mungai Ngine (10:56)

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2. Chad Removes Presidential Term Limits (12:12–23:31)

Political Context and Public Reaction

• Chad’s parliament approved a constitutional amendment removing presidential term limits, which critics argue is a move to extend President Mahamat Idris Déby’s rule.
• Citizens express feelings of powerlessness:
  “This country does not belong to Chadian people anymore. This country belongs to one family.” (13:08)

Analysis by Expert

Central African Pattern

• Oluwale Ojewale:
  Describes this as part of a wider pattern of autocracy in Central Africa, with leaders (like in Equatorial Guinea and Congo) ruling for decades:
  “The president of Equatorial Guinea has spent more than 40 years... Idriss Deby spent almost three decades... His son is only copying from that playbook.” (14:17)

Democracy in Name Only

• “Organizing periodic elections does not translate to democracy... opposition cannot freely gather or express themselves, dissenting voices are put behind bars.” (15:09)
• Describes the parliament as a “rubber stamp legislature.” (16:40)

Youth and Opposition Dynamics

• Young people are vocal online but often lack avenues for real-world political impact due to repression.
• “Even online participation... is only to the extent that Internet freedom is guaranteed.” (18:14)
• On youth protest:
  “Being on the street does not necessarily cause a change. In few cases it creates maybe some temporary panic... but what we have not seen is young people actually step in to participate in politics.” (19:45)
• True, lasting change requires political participation, not just protest. (21:28–23:31)

Notable Quotes

• “We are almost back at where Chad was some years back... some people might even say maybe it is far better than what they have now.” — Ojewale (19:26)
• “Young people need to participate in politics... protests are sporadic and can't go on and on forever.” — Ojewale (21:28)

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3. Kenyan Catholic Church Introduces New Altar Wine (23:31–32:37)

Background and Issues

• Problem: Original altar wine widely available in shops and bars, leading to widespread misuse and attacks on the church’s reputation.
• Counterfeit & Popularity: Non-Catholics and counterfeiters were distributing and abusing the wine, including its cheap price and accessibility.

The Solution

• New Wine Introduced: Labeled “Mass wine,” with new branding and a signature from the Kenyan Catholic bishops (KCCB). Only certified for church use, less available to the general public.
• Distribution: Only available in designated Catholic bookshops or with specific priest authorization. (28:02)
• Communication: Bishops issued a circular and used national events to announce the change. (28:39)
• Alcohol Content: New wine reduced alcohol content from 18% to 17%. (29:28)

Denominational Tension

• Other denominations’ response: Some Protestant groups, previously able to buy Catholic wine in supermarkets, used this as an opportunity to criticize the Catholic Church, highlighting the need for stricter controls.
• “So to avoid the confusion and the abuse, the bishops had to come together and decide on the way forward. And therefore they came up with a new wine which is called Mass wine.” — Father Anthony Kiplagat (24:53)

Safeguards for Authenticity

• Only Catholics with priest-issued letters may purchase the wine, and it is strictly forbidden for regular events or general consumption. (31:28)

Investigation and Changes

• Priests identified discrepancies between genuine and supermarket wine, prompting an internal investigation and eventual reform of branding and distribution. (31:55)
• “The bishops came with an idea that let us change the code of arm and make our own wine strictly for the Catholics.” — Father Anthony Kiplagat (31:55)

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Timestamps for Key Segments

• Stolen Social Media Identities & Propaganda Network: 01:12 – 12:01
• Chad Removes Term Limits & Political Analysis: 12:12 – 23:31
• Kenyan Church Alters Mass Wine Policy: 23:31 – 32:37

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Memorable Quotes & Moments

• “She [victim's mother] also said that her daughter does not subscribe to that kind of politics. She does not post any political content.” (08:09, Mungai Ngine)
• “The president of Equatorial Guinea has spent more than 40 years. Pobi has spent more than 40 years... Idris Deby spends almost three decades or more. I think his son is only copying from that playbook.” (14:17, Ojewale)
• “Young people need to participate in politics. That is where the real business is... protests are sporadic and can't go on and on forever.” (21:28, Ojewale)
• “And therefore they came up with a new wine which is called Mass wine... This wine is satisfied as being in conformity with the requirement of canon law and may be used for the offerings of Holy Mass.” (24:53, Father Anthony Kiplagat)

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Concluding Tone

The episode captured the urgency and breadth of digital deception in Africa, highlighted fraught political transitions undermining democracy, and traced how faith communities grapple with safeguarding traditions in fast-changing societies. Throughout, voices from citizens, experts, and faith leaders provide a grounded, African perspective on complexity, resilience, and the need for vigilance—online, in politics, and in sacred spaces.

Transcript

[Host]

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[Nyasha Michelle]

Hello, I'm Nyasha Michelle and here's what's coming up for you on this edition of Focus on Africa. A BBC investigation finds hundreds of social media accounts impersonating Somali and Muslim influencers and posting political propaganda content. Chad removes presidential term limits, cementing President Mohammad Idris Debbie's rule for decades.

[Host]

The president of Equatorial guinea has spent more than 40 years. Idris Debbie spends almost three decades or more. I think his son is only copying from that playbook.

[Nyasha Michelle]

And the Kenyan Catholic Church unveils new Ulta wine. But why was there a need to replace it?

[Father Anthony Kiplagat]

We found that some people are selling counterfeit wine in the supermarkets. So to avoid the confusion and the abuse, the bishop had to come together and decide on the way forward. And therefore they came up with a new wine which is called Mass wine.

[Nyasha Michelle]

It's Thursday 23rd October 1st. We go to Somalia. Dozens of social media accounts impersonating Muslim and Somali influencers and fashion models have been posting geopolitical propaganda content. That's according to a BBC World Service investigation. Using social media analysis tools, investigators found that between January 2023 and September 2025, 47,000 posts were made on more than 100 accounts on X, formerly Twitter. And they garnered a lot of engagement, approximately 300,000 likes and they reached over 215 million users. The BBC team also found traces of a similar pattern on other social media platforms. Mungai Ngine is a journalist at BBC Global Disinformation Unit and he worked on this investigation with the Arabic forensics team.

[Mungai Ngine]

This investigation Actually started from a tweet. So we did see a tweet where there's a very suspicious account they have seen which was posting what looked like propaganda. And once we really got into it, we saw that it was more than one account. It was actually just several. And then we sort of just started growing it, initially manually, and then we moved on to social media investigation software. We sort of just brought out more than 100 accounts.

[Nyasha Michelle]

Social media has got millions of users, millions of people sharing different types of thoughts. Some of them are unhinged and some of them, yeah, allegations of one thing or the other. So how did your team identify that tweet as something that you should look into further?

[Mungai Ngine]

It's part of something that we do every single day. But what was interesting with this one, it was just more than one account. There were actually several accounts which looked like to us that they were working together, and this person is in the picture and this account belongs to them. There was sort of a disconnect between what the account was tweeting and what the person looked like in the profile picture, because the picture was an influencer type picture, looked like professionally taken and of a young woman. So we sort of just decided to look into what other accounts were tweeting the same kind of content.

[Nyasha Michelle]

Now, once you got into it, tell me what you began to find and also what platforms these accounts were on.

[Mungai Ngine]

We started off on Twitter, which now calls itself X. And then we started by just identifying about 40 accounts that we found manually just from their behavior. Their profile pictures were sort of the same. And then the content was praising the Somali government and just really build this Somali nationalism, saying things like, somalia is a very beautiful country. This is a very beautiful picture of a Somali city, and our president is very good, which in itself isn't particularly wrong. It's just. Just saying how you love your country. But then there were very many accounts which were saying the same thing. So we sort of had them on a list. And then once we had built up about 40 accounts, we sort of put them on a investigative tool and then built a network of the accounts that they interacted with the most. And we sort of got to understood the language they're using, which are the keywords they're posting, who are the personalities they're talking about, where their accounts are based. We got to about 111 accounts, and we also attempted to look at TikTok and Facebook as well. So the same name that we found on X, or the same name that they're using on TikTok, and Facebook. Although on these two platforms we didn't find as many as we found on X, there could be some reason behind this. Maybe it's also a bit harder to investigate on TikTok and Facebook as it is.

[Nyasha Michelle]

Why is it harder to investigate on some of those platforms that you just mentioned?

[Mungai Ngine]

X, there are a bunch of tools which have access to the TO X's API. So that means that they can build to research the platform. So you can collect the tweets, you can get things like the profile pictures, you can assess the language they're using, you can get their posting frequency, you can get who they interact with most. But on platforms such as Facebook, and especially more recently, some of the key tools that were being used to investigate Facebook have sort of been scaled back. And TikTok, I think just because it's more of a video based platform. So we don't as yet have access to a tool that can adequately investigate TikTok to the level that we can with X.

[Nyasha Michelle]

So who were they targeting? Was it the young people? And if so, why would they be targeting them?

[Mungai Ngine]

So from the content they are posting, they are posting these influencer style quotes, basically saying something like, today is a very beautiful day. Take this opportunity to seize the day, something like that, with a very beautiful picture of Somali woman sitting by the beach, you know, just enjoying the breeze. And the pictures themselves were sort of these fairly young women who looks younger millennials or maybe Gen Zs. So which would mean that they're probably targeting people of that demographic. Just also, from what we know about the demographic makeup of most African countries, I think Somalia won't be an exception. The youth below the age of 35 make up the majority. And they're also the majority who operate on these platforms.

[Nyasha Michelle]

In terms of the content that they are posting, what would you say is the goal?

[Mungai Ngine]

There's two things that you can conclude from the content they are posting. First of all, a lot of the content was to praise the government, sort of to show that the government is doing a very good job. Job, because I think Somalia is fighting against Al Shabaab in some of the regions in the country. So the accounts were sort of to show support for the military, saying that the military is doing a very good job. And then there'd also be content that is entirely unrelated to anything Somalia. And then you'd find a tweet saying something like, the UAE president has gone to visit Angola. Then once you look into all of the accounts together, you're sort of seeing that it's actually not as random as you might think that there's a pattern to it. So there are tweets in English. There are tweets in Somalia, but the tweets are mostly in Arabic.

[Nyasha Michelle]

You contacted some of the women whose identities or profiles were stolen. Were they even aware of this happening?

[Mungai Ngine]

No. So we spoke to about six women, and all of those we contacted were unaware that their images are being used in this way. One of them actually said these accounts just kept popping up with her image, and she felt really powerless to do anything. Another one said that because her account was on Facebook, she didn't even have a Facebook account and did not know this was happening. Another one who was American, said that it was really frustrating and really a threat to what she was trying to build because she's sort of in the influencer marketing space. And there's these accounts which are using her image and then posting political content. So it was really, really heartbreaking for her. And then we also managed to speak to the mother of one of the women who said that her daughter is actually. Is young. She meant underage. She's very upset because her daughter doesn't have an account on TikTok or on X. And yet these accounts were operating on these two platforms and using her daughter's image. And she also said that her daughter does not subscribe to that kind of politics. She does not post any political content.

[Nyasha Michelle]

Okay. Now, a very big thing is us finding out who actually is behind this. So were you and the investigations team able to determine that?

[Mungai Ngine]

It's a bit difficult to say who specifically is doing this, but we are able to put our findings to some of the disinformation experts who specialize in the Arab area and Horn of Africa, and they're able to say that from what they are seeing is that this content aligns with the UAE foreign policy. The UAE has a lot of interest in Somalia and Somaliland. They're. They're helping the fight against terrorism. They're investing in infrastructure along the Red Sea coast. They're also involved in. They've built hospitals in Sudan, and they're doing a lot of humanitarian activity in that area. Some of these influence campaigns are run by PR companies who could be hired by anyone.

[Nyasha Michelle]

Would you say it's. It could be several groups or a single organized network?

[Mungai Ngine]

We think it's a single organized network that's operating across multiple countries. We are able to see that some of these accounts are displaying the same behavior across neighboring countries like Sudan. There are some in Somalia, some of those accounts operating in Ethiopia as Well, and the experts we spoke to, one of them who had actually investigated what we think is a similar network, say that you could see the same thing in North Africa, in Algerian countries like Tunisia, and say that it's also possible some of these accounts are operating in countries like Nigeria and Kenya as well.

[Nyasha Michelle]

With all of this happening, what advice or tips would you give to firstly, users and content creators on how they can protect their identities on these platforms and secondly, how they might be able to detect fake propaganda posts for ordinary.

[Mungai Ngine]

Social media users who aren't using it to influence or for marketing. You can start by making your profile private, because by making your profile private, you're limiting the people who can access your image to appropriate it for purposes that you wouldn't be happy with. I guess for influencers, something like using Watermark on your image will automatically just tell someone who's looking a third party that this image was taken from the person who owns the watermark. And also, although this would also work for professional use, will be low resolution images which when downloaded and re uploaded again will lose their quality. And then someone will automatically just start questioning whether such low resolution images is correct or is the right one being used by the person. Once you see profiles that are using your images, the best person who can actually report that account and for it to be taken down is yourself. And this is something that we were told, and we were actually encouraged to tell these affected women by the social media companies that you reached out to. And it's not the actions that the women that we spoke to said they were going to do after we informed them that their images are being used.

[Nyasha Michelle]

BBC journalist Mungai Ngige.

[Mungai Ngine]

Foreign.

[Nyasha Michelle]

Parliament has overwhelmingly approved a constitutional amendment removing presidential term limits, a move critics say is designed to help President Muhammad Idris Debbie to rule the country longer. Debbie first took power in 2021 after rebels killed his father, longtime ruler Idris Debbie Itno, in a gun battle that ended his 30 year rule. President Mahamat was then elected head of State in May 2024 for five years in a contested vote boycotted by most opposition parties. Here's what some young people in the capital Njamena think of Parliament's decision to remove the presidential term limits in this country. It feels like we the people have no power, as if we don't belong. Let them prolong the presidential mandate to 10 or 15 years is the problem.

[Mungai Ngine]

They have extended the mandate from five years to seven years and now they've removed them. And when we have elections, you will see they will rig them as usual, a single person will lead the country for 20, 30 years and be succeeded by their son. So we really are in the logic of dynasty. This country does not belong to Chadian people anymore. This country belongs to one family.

[Nyasha Michelle]

The modification of the constitution isn't a good move. Before this modification, they promised us many things and overnight they've changed the constitution. This can't be helpful to us as students. But will Chad's politicians listen to these young people's voices and their cry for democratic governance? Oluwale Ojewale is the regional coordinator for Central Africa at the Institute for Security Studies in Dhaka in Senegal. And I began by asking him what he made of the removal of the presidential terms in Chad.

[Host]

Well, I think it's a pointer to what is to come and also shows that it's following the trajectory of a pattern of autocracy that we've seen in Central Africa over the years. The president of Equatorial guinea has spent more than 40 years. Pobi has spent more than 40 years. The Republic of Congo, I'm not talking about Democratic Republic of Congo, now has spent also over 30 years. Idris Debbie spends almost three decades or more. I think his son is only copying from that playbook. So he will also like to, if possible, or if the Chadian or the international system permits him, he will also want to be a lifetime president. I think that is the graph that is trying to plot for us to see now.

[Nyasha Michelle]

What does that then mean for democracy?

[Host]

Well, in the first place, I don't think those countries are really practicing democracy. What they do is that they organize election. And you know, periodic election does not translate to democracy. So I think they only try to use the ballots to advance their own interest of perpetuating themselves in power. Because when you talk about democracy, it runs by rules. A country in which opposition cannot freely gather or express themselves, dissenting voices are put behind the bar. I think the only box that they think they tick is organizing periodic election. And it doesn't make them those countries democracies. Look at the way he emerged from the shadow the father died. There is a constitutional system that guarantees what secession should look like. The prime minister or the vice president exited and they brought in a military general. And the military general spent four years organized election. After that he found a means to elevate himself to the position of what they call field Masha now in the country above all the generals. So in one hand, even though he has removed the uniform, on another hand, he still seen himself as one of those guys from the field. So he elevated himself to the position of Field Marshal. And then on the final analysis, just at the commencement of the regime, not up to a year or so. Don't forget that originally when they did the constitutional reform, they adjusted the time limit a single term or five years, they push it to seven years and then the President can now serve for seven years. But the next thing that we're seeing is that they are removing the time limit. In other words, the President can run as long as he feels to run. And guess what? It is a rubber stand legislature that is doing that.

[Nyasha Michelle]

Then what do the opposition and the young people of Chad make of this?

[Host]

What we see generally in which young people are extremely loud on the social media. I'm not sure if they have such freedom of expression outside the digital space. So we can make them a subject of discussion in the sense that we are seeing the renewal of youth aspiration and politics and democracy across the continent. The protests that they are leading and the sheer expression that they are showing in terms of driving accountability. Such regime do not create such room for such openness of participation and free expression of dissenting voices. So maybe they are operating on the margin. But the second aspect of your question in terms of opposition, personally believe they do not exist in Chad.

[Nyasha Michelle]

This is something that is happening throughout certain parts of Africa. Even in Abidjan, where the President is trying to go for a fourth term. The young people took to the streets and. But that was of course swiftly taken care of. Do you believe the young people of Chad will be able to do anything beyond. As you said, they're quite vocal online. Do you think they can do more than that?

[Host]

No, they will not do anything. They will not do anything. In fact, even the online participation or expression that I mentioned, it is the extent to which Internet freedom is guaranteed in those places. Authoritarian regimes are not only shorter than the public spaces, they are also shorter than the digital spaces. So even that freedom of expression is not completely free or allowed in such autocracy. So apart from maybe a few expression or spikes from the diaspora evening at all, that is what is likely going to happen. But I think, you know, the greatest bulwark and the closest arm of democracy to the people is the legislature. If it is captured, there is very little that any other person can do outside that, because I think they've capitulated to the President, to the head of state, and that is the reason why they could brazenly remove the time limit. So I think in such system is just going to be one step forward and two steps backward. We are almost back at where Chad was some years back. Even maybe the experience that some people have, they might even say maybe is far better than what they have now.

[Nyasha Michelle]

And of course this leader, he is actually 41 years old, right? But from what you've mentioned, due to the way that he was wanting to come into power, it doesn't seem like it's the change that young people are looking for. What do you think is the solution for what we're continuously seeing on the continent?

[Host]

So being on the street do not necessarily cause a change. In few cases it creates maybe some panic, temporary panic within the corridor of power and they quickly find a way to short circuit such process. If anything to be feared at all is on the horizon. I think it's a function of two things. A lot of people show up in public protests without knowledge of what they want. From Ansar's movement in Nigeria to Sudan, even to the much celebrated or talk about Arab Spring, in most cases there's a marginal change that happened. But what we have not seen is a situation in which young people actually step in to participate.

[Nyasha Michelle]

You mentioned quite a number of uprisings, right? The Arab Spring and also and SARS movement. What we did see though were people who went to the streets knowing what they were calling for. They were demanding change. They were demanding that power be held to account. What we didn't see was change on the government's side. So then, and that means that it's not the young people who don't know what they want. They know what they want, they go to the streets, they demand it, but then the change doesn't happen. And also there's a lot of people who die. We saw recently, for a long time in Kenya that also taking place. So is it about the young people going to the streets and not knowing what they want? Or is it about the fact that when they go to the streets and they voice their opinions and their and their frustrations, they're met with violence and ultimately for some of them, sadly, they end up losing their lives.

[Host]

Beyond the headlines, beyond the call for accountability. If you look at the placard that most young people are carrying in those places, what they write or what they are aspiring to is good governance. They want to see something that improve their quality of life. Whether they are protesting against tax reform in Kenya or police brutality in Nigeria, you always see them changing the tactics along the line. I'm not castigating the young people, but what I'm trying to say is that in most instances they don't do a Complete job. So what is a complete job in this instance? Look at what has just happened in Madagascar. They led a protest. These guys have come into power. And I can almost bet that for the next four, five years, these guys will show their true color. Look at what happened in Sudan. Is that not what happened in Sudan? They led a protest. Military came into power. Now we are battling with civil war. So what I'm trying to say is that protest by itself alone does not change the entire system. It creates marginal disruptions. And then the ruling elite find a way to use state coercive power to quench or neutralize such protests. And then the business goes as usual again. Young people need to participate in politics. That is where the real business is. How do people emerge from the delegate system? How do leaders emerge? That is where you can insert yourself, not necessarily being on the street. And that is what the ruling elite have mastered so much across the continent, because they know that such protests are sporadic and they can't go on and on forever. So they need to join the politics to participate. And then maybe 10 years, 20 years down the line, we can begin to see transformational leaders emerging on the horizon.

[Nyasha Michelle]

That was Oluwale Ojewale from the Institute for Security Studies in Dhaka. This is Focus on Africa from the BBC World Service. The Kenyan Catholic Church has recently introduced a new brand of altar wine for Holy Mass after the previous one became widely available in local bars and retail stores. The church leadership said the wine had lost its sanctity due to its widespread use outside the church. And if you don't know, wine is used during Mass where, according to the teaching of the Catholic Church, it is transformed into the blood of Jesus Christ and then drunk by the priest and the congregation as part of Holy Communion. The new Mass wine, which is vintage from South Africa, was officially introduced to thousands of worshippers during this year's National Prayer Day in Kenya. And I've seen how the brand new Boso looks. It has a coat of arms with the words you shall be my witnesses written around the emblem. It also bears the signature of the chairman of the Catholic Bishops. Father Anthony Kiplagat is a Catholic priest from the Eldorad Diocese in Kenya. And he told me why these changes were necessary.

[Father Anthony Kiplagat]

I may not know who took the wine to the supermarket, but what I know is that the Catholic Church in Kenya is very keen in observing what is going on with whatever we do in our church. And so the bishops have been following it up. And we found that some people are selling counterfeit wine in the supermarkets. And then people were also going to buy the same wine and using them could be in their homes for whatever reasons, I don't know. So to avoid the confusion and the abuse, the bishop had to come together and decide on the way forward. And therefore they came up with a new wine which is called Mass wine. And it's written on the label of the bottle. This wine is satisfied as being in conformity with the requirement of canon law and may be used for the offerings of Holy Mass. And this code of arm was signed by the Archbishop Martin Kivuva, who is the chairman of KCCB in Kenya. So KCCB is the Conference of Bishops in Kenya.

[Nyasha Michelle]

Okay. So the wine that was then found in these bars and in these supermarkets, you don't know how it ended up there. But why do you think it became so popular amongst non churchgoers for just regular consumption? Because it's not supposed to be for that, right? It's supposed to be for Mass.

[Father Anthony Kiplagat]

Yeah, supposed to be for Mass. But when it was be sold in the market, Anglican Church, we used to allow them to buy wine in our bookshop in some dioceses. But now it was discovered that other churches, pastors are buying them and also non Christians are buying them and then they abuse them. You can understand when people, people are against a certain denomination, they have to capitalize on the negative part of it. So our bishops decided that we don't have to let this happen again. We must have a restriction for our church wine. And you know, we as Catholic, we have to remain Catholics. You know, the abuse of the wine made the bishop to say no using of these old wines. And then the abuse could also affect the young people. You know, there are many young people who could go and buy the wine. And this wine is not very expensive. And especially it became cheaper than the one we were selling in our bookshop.

[Nyasha Michelle]

How much is it?

[Father Anthony Kiplagat]

They were selling it around 1500 Kenya shillings while we were buying at the bookshelf, around almost 18 or 2,000 Kenya shillings. So the supermarket has made it cheaper.

[Nyasha Michelle]

So people were able to buy this wine for just under US$10. Was the church responsible for ensuring that it is removed from stock?

[Father Anthony Kiplagat]

I think what the Church is doing is not to remove whatever the supermarkets have. What we are doing is we are fac of the old wine and now introducing the new wine. And the new wine will be sold only on the specified places, especially in our Catholic bookshop.

[Nyasha Michelle]

So if I were a Catholic and I needed that wine for Mass, I would have to find myself at a Catholic bookshop but if that is not something that I can do, I can't get to a Catholic bookshop. Where would I find the wine?

[Father Anthony Kiplagat]

There is no way you can buy this wine anywhere because we have designated places that the bishops have already identified. Every daisy have a bookshop. And those who goes to buy the wine, they have to have an authority from the priest in charge of the parish.

[Nyasha Michelle]

Okay, so that's how Catholic Christians can be sure of its authenticity. You can only buy it in Catholic bookshops. So then how has the church leadership communicated these changes then to the congregants, Catholic churches and those who follow the Catholic Church across the country? And how have people responded to these changes?

[Father Anthony Kiplagat]

The one way that the Church communicated to the Christians or to ask the priests in the diocese of Kenya, they wrote a circular to every parish. And with that circular it was explained that the new wine now is being introduced into the church and the old one should be first off. And then during the Catholic National Day prayer in one of our shrines, the chairman of the KCCB announced to all the Christians nationally, those who attended the national prayer. So it was announced on that day. And so it became like a law and everybody must abide by it.

[Nyasha Michelle]

You mentioned earlier that there are some people who are against the faith. So they may have used this as an opportunity to speak up against it. So do you believe that these changes will better safeguard the Catholic faith in a more distinctive way?

[Father Anthony Kiplagat]

It will depend on the beliefs of the people, especially the non Catholics, because, you know, we've been accused of drinking alcohol at the altar or when we are saying the Masses because they don't understand really the biblical context of us celebrating Mass using the wine. And then they forget also that the wine is not made of yeast, it is from the vines. It has some alcohol contents. The old one had 18 volume percentage of the alcohol. But now the new one is reduced a little bit by one. So alcoholic content is 17 the new one. So we are actually trying to reduce it. But it has to be as it was written in the Bible, that Jesus took the wine from the fruits of the vine. It is not our own making, it is written in the Bible. So that's what the Catholic is trying to do. But then, you know, other Protestant churches, maybe they don't believe what Catholic believes. They have their own ways of looking at the Scriptures. So they will have to find something that they will use to accuse us, maybe to win the followers or something like that.

[Nyasha Michelle]

So you're saying, Father, that Catholic wines used for Mass being found in supermarkets and in bars has actually ignited some type of rift, for lack of a better word, between different denominations of the faith.

[Father Anthony Kiplagat]

Most denomination, when they come to a bookshop, we don't allow them to buy our wines. And so when the wine was introduced in the supermarket, they had a leeway of going to the supermarket and buying them, having the same code of ARM like the one we have in our bookshop. And so it brought confusion. And so to avoid the confusion, we have to identify ourselves. And so we have to own our own special wine which is satisfied by our KCCB or bishops in Kenya.

[Nyasha Michelle]

This is a sacramental drink, as you mentioned earlier. Essentially, it's a biblically inspired way of doing things within the Catholic Church. So what safeguards then should be in place to ensure that this does not happen again in the future?

[Father Anthony Kiplagat]

What the bishops have decided is that nobody else should be given an opportunity to buy the wine unless he's a Catholic. Given a letter by the priest and bringing the wine for the use at Mass only, not for anything else. You don't buy it for celebrations or drinking wine, enjoying? No, no. It's only sacramental. It is used for the Mass only.

[Nyasha Michelle]

Finally, Father, was there an investigation done?

[Mungai Ngine]

Of course.

[Father Anthony Kiplagat]

I think the investigation came out of us, the priests, because we started asking ourselves, why is this wine not the same as the wine we've been using? And each priest had his own way of contributing to that. And then it came that some of us went to the supermarket and we bought the wine and we were trying to compare and found that this is not our wine but the code of arm. The bottle is our church bottle. So that brought a lot of question. What should we do then? Then the bishops came with an idea that let us change the code of ARM and make our own wine strictly for the Catholics. So if they continue to sell the old wine in the supermarket, then we have no authority to go and tell them no.

[Nyasha Michelle]

Thank you very much, Father.

[Father Anthony Kiplagat]

You're welcome. Thank you so much. Be blessed.

[Nyasha Michelle]

Thank you so much, Father. I receive the blessings. Father Anthony Kiplagat, a Catholic priest from the Eldoret diocese in Kenya. Today's edition of Focus on Africa was put together by Sunita Naha, Stefania Okereke, Mark Wilberforce and Elphas Lag at Patricia Whitehorn was the senior producer and Gabriel o' Regan the technical producer. Our editors are Mariam Abdallah and Sam Murunga. I'm Nyasha Michelle. We'll speak again next time.

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