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Claim: An X user, @CitizenTechiman, has claimed that Mercy Ships has visited Ghana only twice, first in 2007 and again in 2026.
Verdict: False. Available records from Mercy Ships and Ghanaian government institutions show that the organization’s relationship with Ghana predates 2007 by more than a decade. Its own records identify earlier engagements in 1991, 1994–1995, and 2006–2007. The organisation’s 2025 announcement of Global Mercy’s arrival in Ghana described the 2026 mission as its fifth visit/deployment to Ghana since 1991.
Full Text
About 150,000 users on X have viewed @CitizenTechiman’s post claiming that the humanitarian organisation Mercy Ships has been to Ghana only twice, which is in 2007 and 2026.
The caption of the post reads, “The Mercy Ship is back in Ghana; the first time it came to Ghana was in 2007. JDM, God bless, continue to bless you.”
Mercy Ships is a global faith-based charity that uses hospital ships and volunteer professionals to deliver free specialised surgical care and medical training. Mercy Ships reported that the vessel arrived in Tema on August 17, 2026, marking the beginning of a new partnership with the Ghanaian government to provide specialised surgical care and healthcare training.
To verify the claim, DUBAWA investigated how many times Mercy Ships has visited Ghana.
Verification
The organisation says it has had a long-standing relationship with Ghana dating back to 1991. Its current Ghana page states that Mercy Ships’ field services in Ghana began in 1991 and continued through subsequent missions.
A historical account published by Mercy Ships also documents the organisation’s early work in West Africa and describes Ghana as one of the countries involved in its early African operations.
This means the 2007 visit could not have been Mercy Ships’ first visit to Ghana.
A Mercy Ships publication on its work during the COVID-19 period provides a more specific historical record. According to the organisation, a Mercy Ship had docked in Ghana four times before the 2020 publication. It listed the Ghana field services as 1991, 1994–1995, 2006–2007, and 2011–2012.
In September 2025, Mercy Ships announced that the Global Mercy would sail to Ghana in August 2026. It described the mission as the organisation’s fifth visit to Ghana since 1991.
The Presidency of Ghana reported the same information, stating that the August 2026 visit would mark Mercy Ships’ fifth deployment to Ghana since 1991.
These are important primary-source records because they directly contradict the claim’s assertion that the organisation had visited Ghana only once before 2026.
Conclusion
The claim that Mercy Ships has visited Ghana only twice in 2007 and 2026 is false. Mercy Ships’ own records show that its relationship with Ghana dates back to 1991, with subsequent engagements before 2007.
