Charlene Ruto: PHOTO[COURTESY]
The original gazette notice shows that Joseph Kipchumba Lagat was appointed for the role.
A screengrab of a gazette notice shared on X on October 11, 2024, claiming that President William Ruto had appointed Charlene Ruto as the new chairperson to the National Mining Corporation has been altered.
The accompanying post reads, “ President William Ruto has appointed his daughter Charlene Ruto as the New Chairperson National Mining Corporation. We don’t have a country here.”
The gazette notice was similarly shared on other X accounts.
To determine the authenticity of the document, Woman Kenya Network reviewed the official Gazette Notice issued on October 3, 2024. The original gazette notice confirmed the three-year appointment of Joseph Kipchumba Lagat as the chairperson of the National Mining Corporation.
Further, the Ministry of Blue Economy, Mining, and Maritime Affairs, through its X account, flagged the screengrab as fake.
The ministry dismissed the reported appointment and clarified that Joseph Lagat is the correctly appointed chairperson of the National Mining Corporation.
Further, Charlene Ruto, in a post on her X page, dismissed the notice, calling it fake and urging people to avoid spreading misinformation.
She wrote, “Guys..c’mon…seriously?? Tuwache fake news! And looks like this doesn’t know @WilliamRuto. He believes in giving equal, fair, and transparent leadership opportunities to as many Kenyans as possible, so trust me, this he would not do. Na mining tena? Not even youth? Or agriculture? Just so you know it is really fake! Wacha niendeleze @typn_i na @smachs_org…I didn’t wait for anyone to give me an appointment or position. I am creating my own path. Plus…my name is Chelagat, not Chelangat. Don’t support this propaganda!”
The clarification of the correct appointment was also reported on local media outlets such as Capital FM, Kenyans.co.ke, and The Star.
Woman Kenya looked into a screengrab claiming that Charlene Ruto had been appointed as the New Chairperson to the National Mining Corporation through a gazette notice and found it to be altered.
This fact-check was written by Woman Kenya Network fact-checker Trizah Mmwanda and edited by Woman Kenya Project lead Shadrack Agamira.
This fact-check was produced by Woman Kenya Network, under the African Fact-Checking Incubator programme, with support from PesaCheck, Code for Africa’s fact-checking initiative, and the African Fact-Checking Alliance(AFCA).
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