A Kenyan farmer has caught the eye of climate change deniers worldwide. But what is driving him?
Climate change deniers have found a new champion in Kenyan farmer Jusper Machogu. On social media, he has become known as a flagbearer for fossil fuels in Africa, but there is more to his campaign than meets the eye.On X, formerly Twitter, he regularly posts videos of himself weeding his land, planting garlic, or picking avocados - offering viewers a window into life in rural Kisii, south-west Kenya.
“ are definitely coming up from a place of lack of understanding,” says Joyce Kimutai, a climate scientist from Kenya who has contributed to IPCC reports.“This is not religion, this is not just belief. It's about analysing the data and seeing changes in the data.Mr Machogu began tweeting false and misleading claims about climate change in late 2021, after carrying out his “own research” into the topic.
“I think Africans are really embracing the fact that I'm saying: ‘Fossil fuels for Africa’,” he told the BBC. “Through saying whatever I say, I have seen my follower count going up and I've got people reaching out to me saying: how can we help you?,” he said.BBC Verify looked at fundraising pages set up by Mr Machogu and found that, in the last two years, he has raised more than $9,000 from donations.But he also claims to have used donations to help dozens of local families by building a borehole for water, distributing gas bottles for cooking, or connecting their homes to the electricity grid.
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