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No, Kenya’s deputy president has not been arrested, photo is from 2010 

A Facebook user posted a photo on 3 January 2020 showing Kenya’s deputy president, William Ruto, standing in the dock in a courtroom with two other people.

The photo is captioned: “Breaking news… William Ruto arrested over Kimwarer and Arror dam scandal… currently being grilled at DCI headquarters.”

The caption is in reference to allegations of corruption and abuse of office that have led, so far, to the suspension of top treasury officials. The officials are currently facing criminal charges in court. 

The Directorate of Criminal Investigations, or DCI, is the investigative arm of Kenya’s police. 

When the news about the dam projects broke, the deputy president claimed the corruption allegations were a lie, sparking a political storm. But has Ruto since been arrested? 



Photo old, unrelated to dam scandal


A reverse image search reveals that the photo used in the post is old, and unrelated to the arrests made recently in the Kimwarer and Arror dam scandal.

The photo was originally published in the newspaper the Daily Nation on 26 October 2010. 

According to the old article, Ruto, then the suspended minister of higher education, was in court to answer land fraud charges. 

The deputy president has not been arrested in January 2020 and he is not among the officials who were recently charged in court in relation to the dam scandal. – Dancan Bwire

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