An image doing the rounds on Facebook shows Kenyan deputy president William Ruto and politician George Wajackoyah shaking hands.
“Breaking news. Wajackoyah joined hustler nation,” one Facebook user captioned it.
The deputy president and Wajackoyah are among the four candidates the Kenyan Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission has cleared to run for president in the 9 August 2022 elections.
Ruto is the leader of Kenya Kwanza, a coalition of political parties set up ahead of the elections. He is also the United Democratic Alliance party leader.
Ruto has repeatedly used “hustlers” and “hustler nation” as political branding in his campaign.
Wajackoyah is running for president on the Roots Party of Kenya ticket.
The same image of Ruto and Wajackoyah shaking hands was posted with similar claims here, here, here and here on 18 June 2022.
But does the image show Wajackoyah endorsing Ruto for presidency? We checked.
Photo altered
There have been no credible media reports of this news, as would be expected.
In fact, on 23 June, Wajackoyah was quoted by the media asking Ruto to retire from politics after the polls, alongside incumbent president Uhuru Kenyatta.
A reverse image search led to the original photo, posted on Ruto’s Twitter account on 30 May. And Wajackoyah isn’t in it.
Instead the photo shows Ruto shaking hands with Bomet senator Dr Christopher Langat. Bomet county is in the west of the country, some 230 kilometres from Nairobi.
The photo on Ruto’s Twitter was captioned: “UDA thanks Bomet Senator Dr Christopher Langat for choosing to end his independent candidature to support UDA after consultations. Dr Langat joins the national Presidential campaign team to help deliver a Hustler Nation victory on August 9.”
The same photo and message was also posted on Ruto’s verified Facebook page.
There is no evidence that George Wajackoyah has abandoned his presidential hopes and backed William Ruto.
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Further Reading
A cloudy outlook? What we are learning about election disinformation in Africa and what you can do about it
As nearly a dozen countries prepare to hold presidential elections, the spread of disinformation is inflaming Africa's political landscape.
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