This image of the front page of The Star newspaper doing rounds on social media has been altered. The image has a headline, “EXCLUSIVE: Ruto Assassinated Nkaissery” with the sub-heading alleging that the then Interior Cabinet Secretary had initiated a review of a Sh3.5 billion police housing deal awarded to a company owned by Deputy President William Ruto. It has been shared on Facebook through accounts and profiles.
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A fact-check by Business Today shows that this front page is fake as it has been altered from the genuine issue dated 5th August, 2022. We managed to get a copy of the genuine front page which has the headline “Raila and Uhuru attack Ruto over rigging claims” with photos of Azimio La Umoja presidential candidate in the 9th August general elections Raila Odinga and his Kenya Kwanza counterpart William Ruto at different campaign rallies. The subhead reads, “Odinga says he doesn’t need provincial administration for a clean victory against DP”.
The Star newspaper also flagged the front page as fake. “Beware of FAKE news. If it’s not on our official pages, it’s fake!,” the publication wrote on its Twitter and Facebook pages.
Joseph Nkaissery died on 8th July 2017 at Karen hospital in Nairobi where he had been admitted for a check-up. Two days later, an autopsy indicated that Nkaissery died of a heart attack with no evidence of foul play. According to the family pathologist Dr Byakika Bissie, Nkaissery “suffered an acute fatal heart attack as a result of a compromised blood vessel to the heart.”
Ruto is vying for the presidency on a United Democratic Alliance (UDA) ticket. In November 2018, it was reported that companies linked to the deputy president were among those expected to lose millions of shillings in rent after a presidential directive to cancel leases for police houses.
VERDICT: The frontpage of The Star newspaper with the headline ‘Ruto assassinated Nkaissery’ has been altered and is, therefore, fake.
This fact-check was produced by BUSINESS TODAY with support from Code for Africa’s PesaCheck, African Fact Checking Alliance network and the United Nations Development Programme.
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