The original cover had a different lead story.
This 6 June 2024 edition of The Standard newspaper, with a splash headline claiming the Kenyan government has introduced a socialite tax, has been ALTERED.
The cover alleges that the purpose of the tax, scheduled to take effect from June 2024 to June 2025, is to curb prostitution in the country.
“Government introduces socialite 16% tax,” reads the purported headline.
To verify the authenticity of the newspaper cover, PesaCheck reviewed The Standard e-paper database and searched for the 6 June 2024 edition. The said newspaper’s edition has a different headline.
“Ruto takes over Raila’s AU job bid,” reads the headline on the authentic newspaper cover.
The newspaper cover, also shared on The Standard’s social media pages, features an image of opposition leader Raila Odinga next to the splash headline.
Below the main headline is a paragraph about how the Kenyan government joined a campaign for Odinga’s African Union Commission chairmanship bid.
However, all other short stories at the bottom, top, and extreme right of the cover are identical in the authentic and altered covers.
To further confirm the cover’s authenticity, PesaCheck contacted Andrew Kagwa, the operations editor at The Standard Group PLC, who confirmed it was not legitimate.
“This is NOT authentic,” Kagwa told us via email.
The Standard Group PLC audio visual managing editor Anthony Makokha equally told PesaCheck in a text message that “it’s (the cover) not legit. It’s fake”.
A Google keyword search shows that no credible news outlet reported on the introduction of a 16 per cent socialite tax.
The newspaper cover has been circulating amid discussions about the Finance Bill 2024 and its proposed taxes. However, the “socialite tax” is not one of the taxes proposed in the bill.
PesaCheck has looked into The Standard’s cover dated 6 June 2024, with a splash headline claiming that the Kenyan government has introduced a socialite tax, and found it to be ALTERED.
This post was first published on the PesaCheck website. It is part of an ongoing series of PesaCheck fact-checks examining content marked as potential misinformation on Facebook and other social media platforms.
By partnering with Facebook and similar social media platforms, third-party fact-checking organisations like PesaCheck are helping to sort fact from fiction. They do this by giving the public deeper insight and context to posts they see in their social media feeds.
