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Claim: An X user, @kduahjr, has shared a post showing Johnson Asiedu Nketiah, Chairperson of the National Democratic Congress, allegedly describing the government’s explanation for the current power outages as “lies.”
Verdict: Misleading. The video is old. It was originally published in 2021 by Joy News and is being recirculated out of context, falsely presented as a recent comment on ongoing power issues in Ghana.
Full Text
An X user @kduahjr has shared a video of Chairperson of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), Johnson Asiedu Nketiah, purportedly describing the government’s explanation for recent power outages across the country as “lies.”
According to the government, the outages are planned interruptions, not a return to full “dumsor.” The government explained that it is replacing old, overloaded transformers across the country to improve long-term reliability, which is why there have been intermittent power outages. The outages have also been linked to a fire that gutted the Akosombo substation control room.
The caption to the claim on X says, “Engineer Johnson Asiedu Nketia says the government should stop lying that a so-called systems upgrade is what is causing the DUMSOR. I really like honest people.” The post has gained significant traction, amassing over 137,000 views on X, 200 likes, and 400 reposts.
Given the ongoing power fluctuation issues and Mr Nketiah’s prominence as a leading member of the NDC, DUBAWA decided to verify the claim.
Verification
DUBAWA conducted a reverse image search to determine whether the video and the statements attributed to Mr Nketiah were recent.
The search revealed that the video is not recent. It was originally published on Joy News’ YouTube channel on April 12, 2021, during an episode of The Probe. The exact statement can be found from 2 minutes and 28 seconds onwards.
Further analysis confirmed that the statements made by Mr Nketiah in the viral clip are identical to those in the 2021 broadcast, indicating that the video has been recirculated out of its original context.
Additionally, the host, Emefa Apawu, featured in the video, no longer works for Joy News. She was appointed Corporate Communications Manager at the Petroleum Hub Development Corporation on April 22, 2025. This further supports the conclusion that the footage is outdated.
There is no evidence that Mr Nketiah made these comments in relation to the current power outage situation.
Conclusion
The viral post is misleading. It recycles an old 2021 video and falsely presents it as a recent comment on ongoing power issues in Ghana.
