An image showing Kenyan deputy president William Ruto kneeling in church, a pistol clearly visible in front of him, has been circulating on Facebook since August 2021.
“A gun on one hand and a Bible on the other, that is how our forefathers lost their freedom, their land and it took blood to regain it, 60 years on, we have a terrorist guarantor who never misses a verse to quote,” one user captioned it.
The image has also been posted on a Facebook page with more than 260,000 followers, and on a group page with over 1 million members.
But did Ruto really go to church with a gun? We checked.
Archangel Catholic Church in Nairobi
The deputy president is active on Facebook and Twitter, frequently posting about his daily activities.
We looked through his recent updates, and found the photo of him kneeling in church on his Facebook page, posted on 1 August.
Its caption reads, in part: “During Holy Mass at St Michael the Archangel Catholic Church, Langata, Nairobi County.”
But no pistol can be seen. The image circulating on Facebook has been altered.
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