A manipulated picture depicting President William Ruto shaking hands with Radio Presenter Azziad Nasenya has been circulated. This image was shared extensively on social media by some Kenyan individuals in a way that gave the impression it was genuine.

When City Digest posted the image on social media, they mentioned:: “Azziad is trending just because of shoes”.
@KOXnetizens tweeted “President William Ruto with Azziad Nasenya”.
Several other X platform users shared the image with deceptive descriptions. Nevertheless, Star Factchecker conducted an investigation on the State House’s Facebook page and confirmed that the image was originally posted there.

As Ruto’s visit was an official one, the State House regularly posts images of the President’s daily activities.

The authentic image, which was posted on the verified State House Facebook Page on September 3, 2023, shows President Ruto arriving at KICC before the African Climate Summit. During this event, he shook hands with Environment and Forestry CS Soipan Tuya, who welcomed him to the venue.
the initial picture didn’t show Azziad anywhere near the two individuals.

The African Climate Summit took place at KICC in Nairobi from September 4 to September 6. President Ruto went to the event to participate in the Africa Youth Climate Assembly 2023.
CS Soipan was edited out of the picture, and Azziad was put in her place.

 

Azziad also responded to the image in a way that implied she was minimizing its accuracy.
“Ai. Alah! But Why? Aki,” Azziad wrote when tweeting the image.
A quick look at Azziad’s Instagram page reveals that she previously posted the same picture that was edited to include CS Tuya alongside Ruto.

The image clearly demonstrates that she wasn’t present with President William Ruto in the original photo.

The Star Factcheck team has investigated and confirmed that the image was manipulated, providing solid evidence to refute its authenticity.