IN SHORT: Fake newspaper front pages are nothing new on Kenyan social media platforms. One example is a bogus Star newspaper front page claiming that Ruto will support former president Uhuru Kenyatta for the UN secretary general post in 2026.
An image of what appears to be the front page of Kenya’s Star newspaper has been posted online with the headline: “Ruto to endorse Uhuru for UN Sec Gen 2026.”
The front page is dated 5 March 2024 and features a picture of Kenya’s former president Uhuru Kenyatta shaking hands with his successor, William Ruto.
The front page has also been posted on Facebook and X (formerly Twitter) here, here, here, here, here, here and here.
Other examples of the claim and picture can be found here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here and here. In these posts, they are attributed to other Kenyan publications such as the Nation, Citizen Digital, the Standard, Kenyans.co.ke and Tuko News.
Kenyatta was Kenya’s fourth president, serving from 2013 to 2022. Although Ruto was his deputy during this time, Kenyatta supported former prime minister Raila Odinga’s bid to succeed him. This was even though Odinga and Kenyatta had been political enemies before relations thawed.
Relations between Ruto and Kenyatta then soured.
Since 2017, the position of secretary general of the United Nations has been held by António Guterres, the ninth person to hold the title. Guterres is serving a second term, which began in January 2022 and will end in December 2026.
The 2026 selection process is still a long way off, but is this a legitimate front page from the Star newspaper? We checked.
‘Fake news’
On 5 March 2024, the Star posted the circulating front page on its social media accounts with the word “fake” printed in red across it.
“Beware of FAKE news. If it's not on our official pages, it's fake! Visit http://the-star.co.ke for authentic news,” reads the post on the newspaper’s official X account.
Africa Check also checked the Star's front page archive and found that the 5 March front page did not match the front page in circulation.
Instead, it reported that the country’s police force had been crippled by the grounding of helicopters.
The front page being circulated on social media is fake and should be disregarded.
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