The legitimate front cover bears a different headline.

This post on X (formerly Twitter) bearing an image purportedly of the front cover of The Star’s 25th July 2024 edition is ALTERED.

The post reads: “The Star calling Raila Bondo conman is nasty business"

The purported edition's splash headline reads: "DANCING ON GRAVES Bondo conman raises a toast to corpses of the young and brave"

The cover was shared on 25 July 2024, a day after President William Ruto announced the second batch of 10 Cabinet Secretary nominees, where he nominated members of the opposition party, ODM, which is led by Raila Odinga.

But did The Star newspaper publish the lead story headline in question? 

Maudhui House checked The Star's official Facebook page and X account where such front pages are published and found a different cover story of the 25 July 2024 edition.

The headline of the splash story on the legitimate cover shared by the news outlet reads: “Ruto, Raila new union to redefine 2027 race.” The post also includes a link to the newspaper’s e-paper platform, where the latest edition is available.

What's more, The Star disowned the cover under investigation and termed it fake.

A side-by-side comparison of The Star's original splash headline and the manipulated version demonstrates that the legitimate headline was altered.
 

A comparison of the altered vs the legitimate The Star front covers.

Maudhui House examined a post on X with an image purportedly of the front cover of The Star’s 25 July 2024 edition and established that it has been ALTERED.

This fact-check was published by Muadhui House with support from Code for Africa’s PesaCheck and African Fact-Checking Alliance.