IN SHORT: The image seems to show Bomet county politician Linet Toto with Kevin Rigathi, the son of Kenyan deputy president Rigathi Gachagua. It’s been posted with suggestions that the two are a couple, but the image has been altered. In the original, Toto is alone.
An image that seems to show Bomet county woman representative Linet Chepkorir – widely known as Linet Toto – standing in front of a Kenya Air Force plane with Kenyan deputy president Rigathi Gachagua’s son Kevin Rigathi has gone viral on social media.
It’s been posted with suggestions that the two are a couple.
“Rigathi Gachagua's son with Linet Toto. Bomet and Mulot Boys...hii imeenda. Imeenda,” one Facebook user captioned the image, with a heart emoji.
The Kiswahili can be translated as: “Young men from Mulot and Bomet county in general, she is gone.” Mulot is a trading centre in the county.
The image went viral a day after Rigathi accompanied his father to Rwanda for the YouthConnekt Africa summit. Toto also attended the meeting, along with several African leaders. Hosted by Rwandan president Paul Kagame, the summit aimed to encourage young people to take up leadership positions.
But is the image authentic? We checked.
Toto alone in original photo
A reverse image search of the image reveals that it has been altered. The original photo was published on 13 October 2022 just before Toto’s departure to Rwanda for the summit. In it, she is alone: Gachagua’s son is not standing next to her.
And at the summit, he was wearing a different outfit to the one shown in the image.
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