IN SHORT: Kenya’s former cabinet secretary for interior Fred Matiang’i has jetted back into the country amid reports he is preparing to run for president in 2027. We found no evidence that he was deported from the US, as claimed in this viral graphic.
Kenyan politician Fred Matiang’i has been deported from the United States as president Donald Trump intensifies crackdown on illegal migrants. This is according to a graphic going viral on social media in Kenya.
“A US illegal migrant of Kenyan national arrives in Nairobi after deportation as Trump's crackdown on illegall migrants takes effect,” the graphic reads.
It features a photo of Mariang’i surrounded by other people. It also includes the logo, SMS number and web address of the Standard, an online platform of a Kenyan newspaper with national reach, to imply that they published it.
The graphic went viral just hours after local media reported that Matiang’i had jetted back into the country from the US. Matiang’i landed on the night of 17 April 2025 and was received by several political leaders, including the secretary general of the Jubilee Party, Jeremiah Kioni.
The party, led by former Kenyan president Uhuru Kenyatta, endorsed Matiang’i as its possible 2027 presidential candidate. Jubilee was Kenya’s ruling party between 2017 and 2022. Kenya will hold its next general election in 2027.
Trump first served as president of the US from 2017 to 2021. He was inaugurated for his second term on 20 January 2025. Since then, the Trump administration has implemented an aggressive immigration enforcement policy that has led to an increase in deportations.
Fallout with Kenyan president William Ruto
Matiang’i was part of Kenyatta’s cabinet from 2013 to 2022. He first served as cabinet secretary for information, communications and technology. He moved to the education ministry before becoming cabinet secretary for interior.
Matiang’i fell out with Kenyan president William Ruto, who was deputy president at the time. Ruto accused Matiang’i of frustrating his presidential bid and campaigning for his then opponent Raila Odinga, who was backed by Kenyatta.
Matiang’i has kept a low profile since exiting active politics in 2022, but his return has fuelled speculations of a fierce political showdown with Ruto in 2027, and opened him up to attacks on social media.
The graphic has been posted here and here. (Note: See more instances listed at the end of this report.)
But can it be trusted? We checked.
Fake graphic
Africa Check spotted grammatical and spelling errors in the graphic. The sentence could’ve been written as: “A Kenyan national living in the US illegally arrives in Nairobi after being deported, as Trump's crackdown on illegal migrants takes effect.”
Such poor sentence structure would not have come from a credible media outlet such as the Standard. It is the first clue that the graphic could be fake.
News of the deportation of Matiang’i would likely have made headlines. But we found no reports on it.
The Standard usually posts its graphics on its verified social media accounts, including Facebook and X. We scoured these accounts for the graphic in question and came up empty.
All signs point to a fake graphic.
The fake graphic was also posted here, here, here, here, here, here, here and here.
For publishers: what to do if your post is rated false
A fact-checker has rated your Facebook or Instagram post as “false”, “altered”, “partly false” or “missing context”. This could have serious consequences. What do you do?
Click on our guide for the steps you should follow.
Publishers guideAfrica Check teams up with Facebook
Africa Check is a partner in Meta's third-party fact-checking programme to help stop the spread of false information on social media.
The content we rate as “false” will be downgraded on Facebook and Instagram. This means fewer people will see it.
You can also help identify false information on Facebook. This guide explains how.
Add new comment