Search results show the original edition had a different front page from the one shared in the post.

Syndicated Story by PesaCheck.

A Facebook post with an image claiming to show a Taifa Leo newspaper cover, dated 6 October 2021, has been ALTERED.

The lead photo on the fake cover of the Kiswahili newspaper is of Deputy President William Ruto, and the headline states, “Mahustlers wakwama na Ruto” which translates to “hustlers stick with Ruto”.

The sub-headline reads, “Wananchi wa kawaida waunga safari Naibu wa Rais William Ruto kuingia ikulu 2022”. This translates to “Ordinary citizens support Deputy President William Ruto’s journey to State House in 2022”.

Two small images showing large crowds are placed just below the headline.

To verify the veracity of the newspaper front page, we did a keyword search on Google using the words “taifa leo October 6 2021”. A further search using the same keywords on Google images also shows the legitimate cover page carried a different story than what is on the claim.

One of the search results led us to the Taifa Leo official Facebook page. On 6 October 2021, the publication shared a different newspaper front page on their official Facebook page.

The authentic Taifa Leo cover did not have an image of DP Ruto. Instead, it published a photo of the Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) Party Leader Raila Odinga as the primary focus. Smaller prints of President Uhuru Kenyatta, Baringo County Senator Gideon Moi, and Jimmy Kibaki are placed next to Odinga’s photo.

The headline also differs from the one on the fake Taifa Leo newspaper. The 6 October 2021 edition’s headline reads, “Watoto wa marais wakwama na Raila”, which translates, “Presidents’ children stick with Raila”.

The sub-headline reads, “Familia za Mzee Jomo Kenyatta, Mwai Kibaki na Daniel Moi zaunga azimio lake la 2022”. This translates to “The families of Mzee Jomo Kenyatta, Mwai Kibaki and Daniel Moi support his 2022 resolution”.

This post is part of an ongoing series of PesaCheck fact-checks examining content marked as potential misinformation on Facebook and other social media platforms.

By partnering with Facebook and similar social media platforms, third-party fact-checking organisations like PesaCheck are helping to sort fact from fiction. We do this by giving the public deeper insight and context to posts they see in their social media feeds.

Have you spotted what you think is fake or false information on Facebook? Here’s how you can report. And, here’s more information on PesaCheck’s methodology for fact-checking questionable content.

This fact-check was written by PesaCheck fact-checker Naomi Wanjiku and edited by PesaCheck chief copy editor Rose Lukalo. The article was approved for publication by PesaCheck managing editor Enock Nyariki.

PesaCheck is East Africa’s first public finance fact-checking initiative. It was co-founded by Catherine Gicheru and Justin Arenstein, and is being incubated by the continent’s largest civic technology and data journalism accelerator: Code for Africa. It seeks to help the public separate fact from fiction in public pronouncements about the numbers that shape our world, with a special emphasis on pronouncements about public finances that shape government’s delivery of Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) public services, such as healthcare, rural development and access to water / sanitation. PesaCheck also tests the accuracy of media reportage. To find out more about the project, visit pesacheck.org.

PesaCheck is an initiative of Code for Africa, through its innovateAFRICA fund, with support from Deutsche Welle Akademie, in partnership with a coalition of local African media and other civic watchdog organisations.