Ignore fake 'Nation' graphic claiming Kenyan president Ruto's allies asked national assembly speaker to 'prove his loyalty'
IN SHORT: There appears to be a sustained disinformation campaign targeting national assembly speaker Moses Wetang'ula. This graphic claims that he has been asked to take several steps to prove his loyalty to the president, including merging his party with the ruling UDA. But the graphic is fake and should be ignored.
"Ruto allies tell Wetangula to prove loyalty by promoting government policies, praising the President, and merging Ford Kenya with UDA by December," reads a graphic going viral on Facebook in Kenya.
It has the logo of the Kenyan news site Nation Africa, implying that they published it.
The graphic also features two images: one of Kenya's national assembly speaker Moses Wetang'ula, and the other of lawmaker Oscar Sudi.
Who's who in this political game?
Sudi represents the Kapseret constituency in the national assembly. The constituency is in Uasin Gishu county in western Kenya. He is a close ally of Kenyan president William Ruto, and his image on the graphic might imply he is the one who addressed Wetang'ula.
The graphic came just days after a claim went viral on social media that there were plans to remove Wetang'ula and replace him with a member of parliament from the opposition. Wetang'ula is the leader of the Ford Kenya party.
There were also reports that Ruto wanted parties that formed the Kenya Kwanza to merge with the ruling United Democratic Alliance party. Kenya Kwanza is a political alliance led by Ruto. It defeated the Azimio la Umoja-One Kenya coalition, led by Kenyan opposition leader Raila Odinga, in the August 2022 elections.
The Amani National Congress, a party that was led by Musalia Mudavadi before his appointment as cabinet secretary for foreign and diaspora affairs, has already approved the merger.
Wetang'ula's party insists that it will not fold. Wetang'ula and Mudavadi are both leaders from western Kenya.
Ruto included the opposition in his new government in July 2024 in a bid to tame sustained anti-government protests.
Deputy president Rigathi Gachagua, who was often critical of the opposition, has found himself in unfamiliar territory after falling out with Ruto. He has already been impeached on charges of violating the constitution and gross misconduct, but he insists he's innocent and is challenging his dismissal in court.
Some users speculate that after Gachagua's impeachment, the government is now targeting Wetang'ula for refusing to fold his party.
The graphic has also been posted here, here and here.
But is it legit? We checked.
Another fake graphic
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The graphic in question has several red flags. For example, on a genuine graphic, the first two words at the beginning of the first sentence are written in capital letters. This is not the case on the circulating graphic.
Nation Africa often posts its graphics on its verified social media accounts, including Facebook and X (formerly Twitter). Africa Check scoured the accounts for the graphic and came up empty.
On 29 October, the news site posted a blurred version of the same graphic, with the word "fake" printed on it.
"FAKE NEWS ALERT! Please be advised that this card doing rounds on social media is fake," it cautioned.
The graphic is fake and should be ignored.
