No, lawmakers from Kenya's central region haven't faked crowds to secure government funds
IN SHORT: As Kenyan president William Ruto readies for a development tour of the restless Mount Kenya region, a graphic circulating on Facebook claims that the region's lawmakers are staging crowds for monetary gain. But it is fake.
Kenyan president William Ruto is set to tour the Mount Kenya region in April 2025. The visit comes just months after he fell out with former deputy president Rigathi Gachagua, leading to Gachagua's impeachment.
Gachagua wants to be recognised as the leader and defender of Mount Kenya, referring to areas around central Kenya traditionally inhabited by the Kikuyu, Embu, and Meru communities. Gachagua is Kikuyu.
In this context, a graphic is circulating on Facebook claiming that members of parliament from the region are faking crowds to show that Ruto still enjoys support from the region in return for financial reward.
The graphic has the headline: "Mt Kenya MPs Stage Crowds to Secure State House Funds."
The text reads: "Mt Kenya MPs are allegedly staging pro-Ruto crowds to secure up to Kshs.5 million from State House, creating an Illusion of strong regional support amid growing discontent."
The graphic features Nation Africa's logo, implying that the Kenyan news site published it.
The Kikuyu are the largest ethnic community in the country and therefore wield considerable electoral influence, as Kenyans have long voted along ethnic lines.
The community overwhelmingly voted for Ruto, who had Gachagua as his running mate, in the 2022 elections. But after the two fell out, it's unclear whether the vote-rich region will back Ruto in his 2027 re-election bid.
The graphic has been posted here and here. (Note: See more instances listed at the end of this report.)
But is the graphic legit? We checked.
Graphic fake
Africa Check noted that the text in the graphic did not conform to Nation Africa's usual house style. For instance, almost all the words in the headline of the suspicious graphic start with capital letters. But genuine graphics only capitalise the first word and proper nouns in a headline.
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We also noted that the font of the word "NATION" on the logo and the headline on the circulating graphic doesn't match the font on legitimate graphics. An arrow in the legit logo is also missing on the suspicious graphic.
Nation Africa often posts its graphics on its verified social media accounts, including Facebook and X. Africa Check searched the accounts for the graphic and came up empty.
On 25 March, the news site posted a blurred version of the suspicious graphic, with the word "fake" printed on it.
"FAKE NEWS ALERT! Please be advised that this card doing rounds on social media is fake. If you can't find it on Nation.Africa's official pages, treat it as fake!" it cautioned its readers.
The graphic in question is fake and should be ignored.
The fake graphic was also posted here, here, here, here, here and here.
