In one of my recent columns, I mentioned that deepfakes are always looming in moments of heightened political competition, like the ongoing 2026 presidential campaigns. A deepfake (noun) is ‘a video, image, audio, etc in which a person’s face, body, or voice has been digitally altered so that they appear to be someone else, typically used maliciously or to spread false information.’
This week, two deepfakes on Uganda’s politics have caught my attention. First is the deepfake of President Museveni that was posted on X (formerly Twitter) on December 9. In the 22 seconds video, the President purportedly said:’Those international media are sometimes inciting, especially when African countries are having elections. Next year, we will be having general elections here in Uganda. Please tell people like Larry Madowo not to step their feet here. I saw what you did in Tanzania, but I don’t want to see you here in Uganda. You will see fire! Stay away!’
Many non-discerning social media consumers will take this short clip as is because it is President Museveni in the video speaking ‘live’ in his known voice. Yet in reality, an AI generated audio script has merely been voiced over an old video recording of the President. Indeed one of the President’s media handlers immediately shared the original two minutes and 57 seconds video of Mr Museveni’s interview aired on UBC in which he was saying: ‘.Africa needs a centre of gravity. We don’t have a centre of gravity and this is the problem. In Europe you have small countries like Denmark, Belgium and so on.Luxemburg, but the whole western civilisation has got a centre of gravity in the United States.what is our centre of gravity? It must be created? We cannot sit here and remain a perpetual vacuum point in the globe when there is no local power.because we are weak.’
This is a typical example of how Artificial Intelligence (AI) can be manipulated to create false narratives about people. No one is safe from this digital deceit that is getting only more sophisticated. And anyone can misuse AI to create deepfakes. Politicians can misuse it to drive certain narratives against opponents. Security agencies can misuse it to frame innocent people of crimes they never committed. Ordinary people with little basic computing skills can use it for humour, annoying memes, etc.
Which brings me to the second deepfake circulating on TikTok and WhatsApp. In the 1:11 video, US President Donald Trump he is purported to have said: ‘We have a very sad situation in Uganda. A terrible situation. Everyone is talking.look at Bobi Wine, a very popular guy, a musician they tell me, a young guy and look at what’s happening. Treat him horribly, beaten, arrested and his rights violated. It’s disgraceful, and absolute disgrace. You have this leader President Museveni. He has been there for decades, decades,, he is like the king and he doesn’t like the competition. So what does he do? Violence, intimidation. They call it an election but is a joke, a total sham! And they see it. The fake media doesn’t cover it enough but smart people know, they know what’s going on.
People of Uganda, we stand for freedom, for free speech. They want their country back, they want to make Uganda great again. But they can’t with this violence and crooked election. It has to stop! The violence against Bobi Wine and his supporters has to stop now. America is watching. We are all watching. Thank you!’
It is always challenging for most social media users to pick out a deepfake and many will go ahead to share it out as gospel truth because they like what they hear and see.
How do you tell it is fake? Well, beyond basic digital instincts and a sense of skeptism, it is important to carefully observe the videos: poor lip-syncing, strange word pronunciations, unnatural transitions, etc should trigger your mind to ask more questions. Remember, ‘If what the person in a video is saying or doing is shocking or important, the news media will be reporting on it. If you search for information on the video and no trustworthy sources are talking about it, it could mean the video is a deepfake.’