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Kenya’s Star newspaper headline ‘Kuria and Farouk showdown’ photoshopped

“Mose Kuria and Farouk showdown.” That’s the headline on the front page of what appears to be the Star newspaper from 13 August 2020 and shared on Facebook across Kenya.

Pictured underneath the headline are the two said to be in conflict: Farouk Kibet, the personal assistant to Kenya’s deputy president William Ruto, and Moses Kuria, the member of parliament for Gatundu South constituency, north of the capital Nairobi.

Text below the headline reads: “DP Ruto’s top aide angered by MP’s insatiable appetite for cash whose results can’t show.”

Kuria and Farouk are both allied to Ruto and there have been no previous reports of conflict between them. The newspaper headline also misspells Moses Kuria’s first name and the punctuation and grammar of the subheading are poor, all unlikely errors for a national newspaper.

So did the Star report this on its front page on 13 August?



Fake vs real


The Star newspaper shared an image of the circulating front page on Twitter on 13 August, stamped with “FAKE NEWS” across it in red.

The newspaper contrasted this with the day’s real front page. It shows the headline: “Raila ODM purge ahead of 2022 polls.” 

The photo on the front page is of a large elephant, lying on the ground, surrounded by a group of masked people. There is no mention or photos of either Kuria or Farouk on the page. – Grace Gichuhi




 

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