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Kenya’s Standard reports chief justice ‘to dissolve parliament’? No, just another fake front page

“Maraga set to dissolve Parliament,” reads what seems to be the front page headline of the 9 June 2020 issue of the Standard, a Kenyan daily, posted several times on Facebook.

It shows a photo of David Maraga, Kenya’s chief justice. The text below reads: “Chief Justice sets in motion process to dissolve parliament as it has not enacted the two-thirds gender rule.”

On 8 June Maraga expressed his frustration after he failed to get an appointment with president Uhuru Kenyatta to discuss the delayed appointment of 41 judges recommended by the Judicial Service Commission in July 2019.

Photoshopped front pages of Kenyan newspapers have been circulating on Facebook in recent weeks. Is this another fake?



No mention of parliament on real front page


We checked the Standard’s e-paper and found that the real front page headline for 9 June was completely different: “Faces that speeded up divorce.”

The text below reads: “Free fall. The Jubilee marriage was already on the rocks, but the tongues, acts and omissions of these men and women tipped the scales for the UhuRuto dream. Page 6.”

On page 6 is an article about people said to have soured the relationship between Kenyatta and the deputy president, William Ruto.

And the genuine front page shows photos of Ruto’s political allies and supporters of opposition leader Raila Odinga.

The Standard has tweeted the real front page and shared it on Facebook. – Grace Gichuhi

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