Fabricated front page falsely claims Kenyan politician paid ‘witchdoctor’ to help win elections
- This article is more than one year old.
- Published on September 16, 2021 at 16:04
- 3 min read
- By James OKONG'O, AFP South Africa
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The image of the purported front page has been shared nearly 120 times since it was published on Facebook on September 13, 2021.
“Kenyan Odinga spends millions on witchcraft ahead of polls,” reads the headline on the front page of a freesheet newspaper called The South African. Below, the subhead claims that a South African “witchdoctor” was paid by Odinga to perform a ritual involving human sacrifice in order to help the veteran politician win next year’s general elections in Kenya.
“One of the many reasons why devil king Lucifer conman raila odinga will never be president is here (sic),” reads the first line in the post’s caption.
Other posts with the same image of the purported front page have been published here, here and here in Kenya.
The South African is a fully digital news site that covers current affairs. It started as a print newspaper targeting expatriates in the United Kingdom, before moving exclusively online. The site's operations are now based in South Africa.
Fabricated front page
By conducting both reverse image and keyword searches on Google, AFP Fact Check found that the orginal version of the front page, published on July 21, 2009.
The lead article in The South African was not about Odinga, but featured a question-and-answer interview with two photographers under the headline “Picture perfect”.
The couple in the original article posted the front page on their professional blog.
The fabricated version circulating on Facebook retained all the original advertising, including a FIFA World Cup countdown next to the nameplate with a photo of Zakumi, the mascot for the tournament held in South Africa from June 11 to July 11, 2010.
An advert for tax services in the bottom right corner of the page includes an email address for a business in the UK.
Yet, a further look at the altered page shows the strapline has been changed from Tuesday to “Wednesday” and the name “Kwa Zulu Natal (sic)” – a province in South Africa – added below it. However, the newspaper’s UK website at the time remains on the altered page’s masthead.
Odinga, a former Kenya prime minister, has been involved in politics since the 1980s and remains hugely popular, despite losing four shots at the presidency.
Kenya is expected to hold its general elections in August 2022 and Odinga is expected to run for the presidency against current Vice President William Ruto.
Current Kenyan president Uhuru Kenyatta is serving his second and final term in office.
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