A recent Facebook image claiming to show the front page of The Sunday Standard's 27 September 2026 edition has been found to be altered. The image supposedly features a quote from Kenyan East African Legislative Assembly (EALA) Member of Parliament Zipporah Kering. According to the image, Kering said that for President William Samoei Ruto to win in 2027, he must bring former Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua to the table.
EALA is the legislative organ of the East African Community (EAC), responsible for making laws, overseeing the Community, and representing citizens of its partner states. However, there are no credible news reports supporting the alleged quote. A thorough examination of the image revealed several inconsistencies, including a different font and style compared to The Standard's typical house style.
Further investigation revealed that the use of a red highlight for the page number is inconsistent with authentic front pages of The Standard. Typically, red highlighting is used to draw attention to the beginning of the lead story, not the page number. Additionally, the image features three different currencies: Kenyan, Ugandan, and Tanzanian shillings, with a comma between "2" and "7" in the Ugandan shilling amount, which is not consistent with the newspaper's standard layout.
The image's authenticity was further questioned due to the placement of the direct quote and repeated ideas in different places. The Standard regularly publishes its front pages on its Facebook, X (formerly Twitter), and Instagram accounts, as well as its e-paper platform. However, no record of the front page in question was found on any of these platforms.
A review of The Standard's archives revealed that the authentic edition dated 27 September 2026, which bears the same batch number as the cover page in question, carried a different lead story titled "Ruto's Big Talk and Small Action on the Ground." This story examines the contrast between President William Ruto's global diplomacy and his administration's actual performance and governance inside Kenya.
PesaCheck contacted Standard Group's social media editor, Joan Mwai, who dismissed the cover page under investigation as fake and confirmed that the authentic 27 September 2026 Sunday Standard newspaper cover is different. "This is not ours," Mwai said in a WhatsApp response. PesaCheck's findings confirm that the image is indeed altered.
This fact-check is part of an ongoing series by PesaCheck, 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 to posts they see in their social media feeds.
Key points
- The image of The Sunday Standard's 27 September 2026 front page is altered.
- The image features a quote from Zipporah Kering that has no credible news reports supporting it.
- The Standard's social media editor confirms that the image is fake.
