DP Ruto Did Not Display Pistol In Church

A photo of Deputy President William Ruto with a gun in church was altered and is thus fake.

The image has been doing rounds on Facebook showing Kenya’s Deputy President kneeling in a church with a gun placed in front of his knees. A Bible, a notebook and a pen can be seen on the pew top.

One of the Facebook users who shared the image captioned it thus: “A gun on one hand and a Bible on the other, that is how our forefathers lost their freedom, their land and it took blood to regain it, 60 years on, we have a terrorist guarantor who never misses a verse to quote.”

In a different post, another Facebook user posted the same photo and captioned it: “So the heaven investor is not safe in God’s house????”

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A fact-check by Business Today revealed that the deputy president, who actively updates his Facebook and Twitter, attended St Michael the Archangel Catholic Church, Lang’ata, Nairobi, and shared several images taken while in the service. 

In one of the images shared on 1st August 2021, Mr Ruto is seen kneeling in church. The photo caption reads: “During Holy Mass at St. Michael the Archangel Catholic Church, Lang’ata, Nairobi County.”

The photo has no pistol, a clear indication that the image circulating online has been altered with the gun being superimposed on it. The same image has also also been flagged by Africa Check, a fact-checking organisation.

VERDICT: An image showing Deputy President William Ruto with a gun in church has been altered.

 [This story was produced by Business Today in partnership with Code for Africa’s iLAB data journalism programme, with support from Deutsche Welle Akademie ]

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