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Thaw between Kenyan leaders? No, photo of president and deputy from 2018

A photo posted on Facebook on 9 June 2020 shows Kenyan president Uhuru Kenyatta and his deputy, William Ruto, in animated discussion on a lawn outside a large house.

Its caption reads: “PR Uhuru Kenyatta is currently meeting Dr William Ruto in his home, Karen.”

Tension between the leaders has been reported for months. In early June, Kenyatta stripped the deputy president’s office of many powers and privileges. 

Does the photo show the two meeting on 9 June? We checked.



‘Consulting with my boss’


One hint that the photo is not recent is that neither man is wearing a face mask. Since Covid-19 was first reported in Kenya on 12 March, the two have been photographed wearing masks in public.

A reverse image search reveals that Ruto posted the photo on Facebook and Twitter on 2 November 2018.

He captioned it: “Consulting with my boss, president Uhuru Kenyatta, on matters of development and unity.” 

In another tweet on the same day, Ruto said he had hosted Kenyatta and Orange Democratic Movement leader Raila Odinga at a lunch at his home in the Nairobi suburb of Karen. He shared photos of the three men together. – Dancan Bwire

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