HEADLINE-STORY MISMATCH OF THE TENSE KIND

Behold! The past and future tense shall become one. And the present tense will not be happy. This flight of fancy became a reality, courtesy of an 'ingenuous' page-one story, in a leading Kenyan daily. The headline-story mismatch rears its ugly head yet again.

The headline alludes to an event that supposedly has already happened, that is, 'Governors sworn in...' A reader's expectations therefore, is to find details in the body of the story, about how the swearing in of the governors 'went down' or rather an account of the swearing in ceremony.

But alas! What does the first paragraph state: 'All governors-elect and their deputies will be sworn into office today...' So which is which?

Was there a swearing in ceremony, or was there going to be a swearing in ceremony? And while at it, are the said governors and governors-elect one and the same thing?

This, dear class, is another classic example of a headline-story disconnect.