Kenya's Ex-Deputy President Gachagua Didn't Call Opposition Politician Matiang'i a Mole - Viral Front Page Altered

Kenya’s ex-deputy president Gachagua didn’t call opposition politician Matiang’i a mole – viral front page altered

IN SHORT: Just two days after Kenyan politician and presidential hopeful Fred Matiang’i attended a conference held by the country’s former ruling party, a newspaper front page claimed he had fallen out with ex-deputy president Rigathi Gachagua as a result. However, the front page has been fabricated.

Kenyan politician and presidential hopeful Fred Matiang’i attended the former ruling Jubilee Party’s national delegates conference in the capital, Nairobi.

Two days after the event, a newspaper front page emerged claiming that former deputy president Rigathi Gachagua had called on opposition supporters to reject Matiang’i.

“Reject Matiang’i,” the front page’s headline screamed. It appeared to be the 29 September 2025 issue of Kenya’s Standard newspaper.

Its summary alleged that Gachagua was unhappy with Matiang’i’s decision to embrace the former ruling party instead of his Democracy for the Citizens Party.

“Rigathi Gachagua is now lashing out, calling Fred Matinag’i a mole after ditching DCP for Jubilee … But here’s the sting – a leader who paraded himself as untouchable is now whining like a careless farmer who watched rats feast in his own granary. If Matiang’i truly holds all his secrets, then maybe Gachagua’s fortress was nothing more than a leaking hut all along,” the piece mocks.

The front page has images of both Gachagua and Matiang’i.

Gachagua served as Kenya’s deputy president from 2022 until his impeachment in October 2024, following a fallout with president William Ruto. The president and other pro-government politicians accused Gachagua of dividing Kenyans along ethnic lines.

He has actively mobilised opposition politicians in an effort to forge a formidable front to challenge and defeat Ruto in the 2027 general election. The politicians he has brought together lead their own independent political parties.

In February 2025, the Jubilee Party, led by former Kenyan president Uhuru Kenyatta, endorsed Matiang’i as its presidential candidate for the 2027 polls. Jubilee was Kenya’s ruling party from 2017 to 2022.

But did the Standard actually publish the front page in question? We checked.

Altered front page

We noted that the circulating front page had a different font from a genuine one issued by the Standard. It also originated from the Facebook page Daily Standard – a known source of many digitally altered front pages mimicking the design of the Standard newspaper. This is the first hint that it could also be fake.

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