Deputy President William Ruto responded to the headline written by the Standard terming it as an insult to him and President Uhuru Kenyatta as his supporters burned copies of the newspaper.
The headline scripted by Standard on Saturday, April 18 read, "Big office, no power" and had an image of Ruto appearing to salute.
The story was basically about how Ruto's power in government has faded by reason of his chemistry with the president waning as cabinet secretaries ignore him.
On Saturday, April 18, Ruto responded to the headline via a tweet, "To reduce our administration to chemistry, position & power is an insult to Uhuru & I and a betrayal of the 8m plus Kenyans who voted for us.
"Jubilee is about the hustle of every ordinary citizen, not leaders; unity, not isolation; transformation not big office; empowerment not power."
Ruto's supporters in Eldoret town expressed their anger over the headline and resorted to burning copies of the paper, warning Standard against selling the paper in the town.
In a video that surfaced online, Ruto's supporters showed their solidarity with the deputy president, "We as residents of Eldoret condemn the information the Standard Group writes every time on their paper.
"We want to urge the deputy president to never be shaken, and to the people of Rift Valley, you should never read the Standard, this is paper.
The three men went on to speak in Kalenjin which translated to, "My Kalenjin people, let me tell you and please listen to me, soon and very soon we will visit the Standard and show them how we must live in Kalenjin land.
"We are fighting Coronavirus and, sadly, there are people fighting the deputy president. People are abusing William and here we are quiet.
"I want to show you how people must live in Eldoret, Kapsabet and any other place where Kalenjin are; we must live in a clever manner.
"So that people can leave William alone, let me show you how to deal with such newspapers," as they proceed to set the newspaper on fire.
They went on to fault Gideon Moi for the headline, "If the family of Gideon is doing business, they should leave Ruto alone, they should know that idiots don't exist anymore."
