A digital card circulating on social media, purportedly from Kenyans.co.ke, claims that former President Uhuru Kenyatta has agreed to hand over Jubilee party leadership to Nairobi Senator Edwin Sifuna. The image, dated 17 September 2026, features a photo of Kenyatta and the Jubilee party logo. However, a thorough examination by PesaCheck has revealed that the graphic is altered and not authentic.
PesaCheck reviewed Kenyans.co.ke’s Facebook page, X account, and website but found no record of such a graphic or article published on 17 September 2026. Instead, a similar graphic dated 15 September 2026 was found, reporting that Kenyatta had agreed to hand over the party’s leadership, but it did not mention Sifuna. This legitimate graphic was published on various platforms, further confirming the inauthenticity of the altered image.
There are no credible reports of Kenyatta handing over the party’s leadership to Sifuna. On 22 September 2026, Kenyatta announced that he was handing over his role to presidential hopeful Fred Matiang’i, following a high court ruling that barred retired presidents from holding political party office for more than six months after leaving State House.
The altered image appears to be a screengrab of a Facebook post by Kenyans.co.ke and has been shared on multiple platforms. This has sparked speculations about Nairobi Senator Edwin Sifuna’s affiliation with former President Kenyatta, with claims that Kenyatta is sponsoring the Sifuna-led Linda Mwananchi political movement.
PesaCheck is part of an ongoing series of fact-checks examining content marked as potential misinformation on Facebook and other social media platforms. By partnering with Facebook and similar social media platforms, third-party fact-checking organisations like PesaCheck are helping to sort fact from fiction and provide the public with deeper insight and context.
The fact-check was conducted by PesaCheck fact-checker Harriet Ogayo and edited by senior copy editor Mary Mutisya and chief copy editor Stephen Ndegwa. The article was approved for publication by PesaCheck managing editor Doreen Wainainah. PesaCheck is East Africa’s first public finance fact-checking initiative, co-founded by Catherine Gicheru and Justin Arenstein.
PesaCheck seeks to help the public separate fact from fiction in public pronouncements about the numbers that shape our world, with a special emphasis on pronouncements about public finances that shape government’s delivery of Sustainable Development Goals public services. The initiative is an effort to test the accuracy of media reportage and promote accountability in public finances.
Key points
- The digital card claiming Kenyatta agreed to hand over Jubilee party leadership to Sifuna is doctored.
- Kenyatta announced handing over his role to Fred Matiang’i on 22 September 2026.
- PesaCheck is East Africa’s first public finance fact-checking initiative.
