Post from parody account was not shared on X by Kenya’s President William Ruto

With Kenya's 2027 general election approaching, candidates are emerging to challenge President William Ruto. Among them is former cabinet secretary Fred Matiang’i, who is set to resign from his World Bank job in the United States to pursue his political aspirations. A screenshot widely shared on Facebook purports to show an X post from Ruto questioning whether Matiang’i is allowed to run for office as an employee of the World Bank. But this is misleading; the X post originated from a parody account and not from Ruto. 

“Why is Mr.president being like this? (sic),” reads a Facebook post published on May 2, 2024.

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Screenshot of the misleading post, taken on May 13, 2025

Included is a screenshot of what appears to be a post published on X by Ruto.

It reads: “Dear World Bank @WorldBank, We respectfully seek clarity on reports of one of your employees engaging in Kenyan political matters. What guidelines govern staff participation in sovereign state affairs? (sic)”.

Part of the screenshot shows a 2027 presidential campaign poster with a photo of Matiang’i.

The screenshot was also shared here, here and here on Facebook.

Road to 2027

The claim was posted a day after Matiang’i officially declared his intentions to run for president in 2027. He was at a rally in Kisii County, where he hails from (archived here).

He also announced that he would be resigning from the World Bank to focus on his bid to unseat Ruto, who is aiming for a second term.

Matiang’i previously served in the Kenyan cabinet from 2013 to 2022 as the head of various ministries.

During his time as interior minister, he fell out with then deputy president Ruto, who alleged that Matiang’i was using his position and state resources to obstruct his 2022 presidential ambitions (archived here).

Former president Uhuru Kenyatta’s Jubilee party recently endorsed Matiang’i as its 2027 presidential candidate (archived here).

However, the claim that Ruto used X to question Matiang’i’s eligibility to run in 2027 is misleading.

Parody account

Using keywords from the screenshot, AFP Fact Check established that the post was originally published by an X account under the username “H.E President William Ruto (Commentary)” (archived here).

A comparison between the “commentary” account and Ruto’s official X account highlights key differences.

Ruto uses the username “@WilliamsRuto” and his bio describes him as the “President of The Republic of Kenya”. He has 6.9 million followers and includes a link to the government website “president.go.ke”. 

His account was created in July 2011 and primarily shares formal presidential updates. It has a grey checkmark reserved for authentic government institutions and public figures verified by X.

In contrast, the account referenced in the claim was created in 2016, has about 609,000 followers and mainly shares fan-based praise of Ruto and support for the government.

It includes a “parody/commentary” disclaimer in the bio, with the word “parody” written in Russian. 

The account has a blue checkmark, indicating that it is subscribed to X Premium (formerly Twitter Blue), which any user who pays and meets basic eligibility requirements can get.

The parody account mimics Ruto's official account by using the same profile picture and a banner image from Ruto's swearing-in ceremony.

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Screenshots comparing the parody X account (left) and Ruto’s official X account

We found no record of Ruto publishing X posts about Matiang’i’s 2027 presidential bid.