Fake graphic falsely claims western Kenya is hostile to president William Ruto
IN SHORT: Kenyan president William Ruto received a significant share of votes from western Kenya in the 2022 election. But a graphic seemingly quoting his political ally Boni Khalwale as saying that the region is now hostile towards him is fake.
Western Kenya is very hostile towards Kenyan president William Ruto for allowing his political allies to insult leaders from the region. This is according to a graphic seemingly quoting Kakamega county senator Boni Khalwale. The county is in western Kenya.
"Western is very hostile for Ruto, you can't bring Ichungwa here to insult a very respected leader like Natembeya and get away with it. Working with Raila will not redeem you, Mulembe people know ODM wants to kick Sifuna out," it reads.
The graphic has an image of Khalwale and the logo of Nation Africa, implying that the news outlet published it.
"Mulembe" is a Luhya word meaning peace. The community is informally referred to as "Mulembe people".
The context
The quote appears to refer to an angry outburst by influential ruling party politician Kimani Ichung'wa directed at Trans Nzoia county governor George Natembeya during the burial of the mother of Kenya's national assembly speaker Moses Wetang'ula in Bungoma county, western Kenya, in January 2025.
Ichung'wa is a member of parliament for Kikuyu constituency in Kiambu, a county neighbouring Nairobi. He is from the Kikuyu community.
Natembeya had called on president Ruto to address rampant abductions of young critics of the government, attracting Ichung'wa's wrath. Ichung'wa accused Natembeya of being a hypocrite as his tenure as regional commissioner in the previous regime was marred by reports of abductions and extrajudicial killings.
The latest abductions, believed to be carried out by state agents, were widely reported between June 2024 and January 2025. Kenyan police denied involvement in the abductions.
The Luhya are the second-largest ethnic community in the country, after the Kikuyu, and they predominantly live in western Kenya.
Leaders from the region, including Natembeya, have been calling for unity in the community so that it can effectively compete at the national level.
Raila Odinga is the leader of Kenya's main opposition party, the Orange Democratic Movement (ODM). Ruto and Odinga's political relations have continued to improve since the inclusion of the latter's allies in the government in July 2024. On 7 March 2025, the two leaders signed a memorandum of understanding that appeared to formalise their political friendship.
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Nairobi county senator Edwin Sifuna, from the Luhya community, is ODM's secretary general.
The graphic has been posted here and here.
But is it legit? We checked.
Fake graphic
The text in the graphic contains incorrectly placed or missing punctuation marks. Such would not come from a credible media outlet and is the first clue that it could be fake.
We compared the circulating graphic to a genuine one posted by the news site and noted significant differences. The one in question is poorly designed, uses a different font from the news site's graphics, and does not include a date like legitimate ones. These are red flags.
Africa Check did not find any instance where credible media outlets in Kenya reported its content.
Nation Africa usually posts its graphics on its verified social media accounts, including Facebook and X. But Africa Check did not find the circulating graphic posted on any of the accounts.
On 1 March, Nation Africa posted a blurred version of the suspicious graphic, with the word "fake" printed across it.
"FAKE NEWS ALERT! Please be advised that this card doing rounds on social media is fake," it warned.
The graphic is fake. It is not from Nation Africa, and there is no evidence that Khalwale made the remarks.
