By Simon Muli
A purported appeal by former United States President Barack Obama to Kenya’s president, Uhuru Kenyatta, to ‘stop fighting his deputy’ was shared on Facebook. The post asks President Kenyatta to emulate Obama’s example of mentoring and supporting those working under him to succeed him in office.
“You won’t become popular by fighting your own deputy and those who supported your leadership aspirations, a great and sound-minded leader will always build a great future for those who are serving under him!” the post reads in part.
“IAM [sic] happy seeing Biden a president of U.S.A!” it adds.
However, the post, which has glaring grammatical errors, does not indicate when or where Obama made the appeal. A photo of Obama and President Biden together, both appearing to be in a jovial mood, has been used to advance the claim.
Background
Deputy President William Ruto has declared his interest to succeed President Kenyatta in 2022. However, Kenyatta and Ruto, according to media reports, are no longer political friends.
When Obama’s term in office expired on 10 January 2017, after eight years at the helm, he campaigned for Biden, who took office in January 2021.
Verification
Nonetheless, the reverse image search results show the photo was taken on 9 February 2015 in the Oval Office by the White House’s official photographer at the time, Pete Souza. Obama was still president then, with Biden serving as vice president.
None of Obama’s Facebook and Twitter posts address Kenyatta as claimed.
Additionally, given Obama’s profile and his Kenyan roots, his views about the country would attract mainstream media interest. A Google search did not yield any credible media reports on the same.
Verdict
PesaCheck has looked into the appeal purportedly by former US President Barack Obama to Kenya’s president, Uhuru Kenyatta, to ‘stop fighting his deputy,’ and finds it to be FALSE.
This story was produced by Africa Uncensored in partnership with Code for Africa with support from Deutsche Welle Akademie.
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