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A 1966 photo of Kenyan ex-president Moi’s family with a young Rigathi Gachagua is altered
A photo of former Kenyan President Daniel Moi’s family with politician Rigathi Gachagua taken in 1966 circulating on social media is fake.
The photo emerged on May 15, 2022, when Deputy President of the Republic of Kenya, William Ruto named Gachagua his running mate in the upcoming August 2022 Presidential election.
The photo purports to show Rigathi among Moi’s sons. The photo was circulated widely on all major social media channels, including Whatsapp.
However, a fact-check shows that the image was manipulated.
What has been altered in the photo?
A fact-check using the Google image reverse tool shows that the photo was first shared on Feb 3, 2021, by Jeremy Olembo via Twitter.
The photo, which was allegedly taken in 1966, shows young Rigathi Gachagua who according to the caption was known as Rigathi Kiprono at that time.
Further Google search for similar images shows;
- The image was flipped to face the other direction and accommodate the face of young Rigathi.
- Philip Kipchirchir Moi’s face was replaced with Rigathi Gachagua’s.
- The caption was edited to replace Philip Kipchirchir with Rigathi Kiprono.
- The photo date was changed from 1967 to 1966.
- The image has been sharpened to show the faces more clearly.
The original Moi’s family photo taken in 1967 is pixelated and faces the other direction.
It was flipped to accommodate the face of young Rigathi, and the caption edited to replace Philip Kipchirchir with Rigathi Kiprono.
Original vs Fake photo of Moi’s family
The original photo was first shared on September 4, 2014, by the breaking news Kenya.
Here is the original photo:
Source:The Breaking News Kenya
Here is the manipulated image:
Source: Twitter
Age difference
According to EA Feed, Rigathi was born in 1965 while The Star reports that Philip Moi was born in 1962.
At that time the photo was allegedly taken in 1966, Rigathi was 1-year-old while Philip was 4 years old.
This picture is of 5-year-old Philip Moi and not 1-year-old Rigathi.
Conclusion
Lifestyle Afrique has looked into the claim that Rigathi Gachagua appeared in Moi’s family photo of 1966, and finds it to be FALSE.
The photo was altered to deceive the supporters of William Ruto.
Ruto was expected to name his running mate from Central Kenya, specifically a member of the Kikuyu tribe, and so portraying Rigathi as a son of Moi was intended to mislead his supporters into believing that Rigathi is a Kalenjin like Ruto.
This is a form of disinformation, a fake story aimed at influencing how Kikuyu supporters of Ruto vote in the August 9 Presidential Election.
Let us join hands to fight fake news.
This article was produced with mentorship from the African Academy for Open Source Investigations (AAOSI), to tackle disinformation that undermines our democracies, as part of an initiative by the International Centre for Journalists (ICFJ) and Code for Africa (CfA). Visit http://academy.africa/aaosi for more information.”
This fact-check was produced by Lifestyle Afrique
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