Fabricated newspaper front page falsely portrays Kenyan governor Natembeya as leading party revolt
IN SHORT: Taifa Leo newspaper's e-paper and social media pages confirmed that the genuine 20 November 2025 headline was unrelated to George Natembeya, the governor of Kenya's Trans Nzoia county. The version circulating online is fake and should be ignored.
An image of what appears to be the front page of the Kenyan newspaper Taifa Leo is doing the rounds on social media. Dated 20 November 2025, the front page features the bold headline: "Natembeya Katembeya!"
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The headline plays on the name of George Natembeya, the governor of Trans Nzoia county, located about 380 kilometres away from Nairobi, Kenya's capital.
Its sub-headline reads: "Gavana avuruga DAP-K, aongoza mapinduzi ya chama bila huruma."
This translates as: "Governor disrupts DAP-K, leads a party coup without mercy."
Natembeya is known for his firm political style and outspoken leadership. The wording in the headline and subheadline casts him as driving internal upheaval within the opposition Democratic Alliance Party of Kenya (DAP-K).
The image shows Natembeya speaking into a microphone at an outdoor event, one hand raised as he addressed the crowd.
Natembeya entered elective politics in 2022 after resigning as Rift Valley regional commissioner. He was elected governor of Trans Nzoia on a DAP-K ticket and quickly became known for his tough, no-nonsense leadership and direct public messaging.
Between 2023 and 2024, he launched the Tawe Movement, with "Tawe" meaning "No" in Luhya, a language spoken in western Kenya. The movement challenged the long-standing dominance of senior political leaders in western Kenya, putting him at odds with influential leaders in the national government.
In 2025, tensions escalated. Natembeya was arrested by the national anti-corruption agency on allegations of mismanaging KSh1.4 billion and was barred from accessing his county office for 60 days. His convoy was later attacked during an event in Bungoma county, an incident he blamed on political rivals. Days later, his security detail was withdrawn, which he described as an act of intimidation.
Natembeya also became embroiled in a leadership fight within DAP-K, advocating for reforms and rebranding to strengthen its national appeal. This led to a tussle for control between him and party leader Eugene Wamalwa, leading to two separate petitions, each seeking the removal of the other.
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The front page in question was also posted here and here. (Note: See more instances at the end of this report.)
But is this the genuine front page of Taifa Leo's 20 November 2025 edition? We checked.
Fake front page
The circulating front page shows clear structural inconsistencies, notably in the headline, where only the first letter is capitalised. In contrast, genuine Taifa Leo front pages usually feature the entire headlines in uppercase.
We checked Taifa Leo's e-paper platform and found that the headline for the 20 November edition differed from the one doing the rounds online.
We also checked Taifa Leo's official Facebook page and X account, where it regularly posts its front pages, and found that the 20 November edition ran with a different headline: "Teuzi ghali za Ruto." This translates as: "Ruto's costly appointments."
The genuine front page features a collage of national assembly speaker Moses Wetang'ula and cabinet secretaries Geoffrey Ruku, Kipchumba Murkomen, Alice Wahome, Aden Duale and Opiyo Wandayi.
Below the photos, the text explains that president William Ruto's decision to appoint six sitting MPs to his cabinet cost taxpayers more than half a billion Kenyan shillings in by-election expenses, sparking a court case challenging the appointments as unconstitutional.
The Taifa Leo front page claiming that Natembeya led a DAP-K coup is fake.
The fake front page was also published here, here, here and here.
