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Claim: Social media users have claimed that former President Akufo-Addo’s image was excluded in a Daily Graphic publication meant to honour past leaders.
Verdict: False! The claim that former President Akufo-Addo was omitted from the publication is misleading. While the initial page may have created that impression, a thorough review of the Daily Graphic confirms that his image appeared on the continuation of the story on page 22.
Full Text
On March 5, 2025, a Facebook user, Abraham Lawrence Tetteh, posted a video claiming that the state-owned Daily Graphic newspaper had omitted the picture of former President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo in a publication honouring Ghana’s past leaders. The claim comes in the wake of Ghana’s 68th Independence Day celebration, which took place at the forecourt of the Jubilee House.
Mr Tetteh’s post stated, “Today, 5th March 2025, ahead of the Independence Day tomorrow, Daily Graphic posted pictures of all former presidents and excluded Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo. Is that how we want to progress as a country?”
The video accompanying the post showed a newspaper section where images of past leaders were displayed, but the image of Akufo-Addo was missing.
X user @christiansirse has also published this. The caption of his post claims Ghanaians are already erasing ex-president Akufo Addo’s name from history.
Other Facebook users, including the NPP Project Bureau, have also shared the claim.
Picture of an image of a daily graphic story displaying former past leader of Ghana with former President, Akufo Addo, excluded.
Given the potential political and democratic implications of such an omission, verifying whether this claim is accurate and, if so, whether it was deliberate or an editorial oversight is crucial.
Verification
The only way to verify this claim is to obtain a copy of the Daily Graphic newspaper and check the specific page.
DUBAWA discovered that the relevant section could be found on page 16 of the March 5, 2025, edition of the Daily Graphic. The article by Edmund Smith-Asante highlighted Ghana’s journey to independence and democratic governance. It featured all Ghanaian leaders since independence.
At first glance, it appeared that former President Akufo-Addo was omitted. However, a closer examination revealed that the story continued on another page.
DUBAWA’s checks confirmed that on page 22 of the Daily Graphic, the continuation included images of former President Akufo-Addo and the current President, John Mahama.
Image of the continuation of a feature story honouring past leaders, with former president Akufo Addo included.
Why did Mahama’s picture appear twice?
This was because the images depicted a timeline of Ghana’s leaders. John Mahama was president from 2012 to 2016, lost, and was again re-elected in 2025.
Conclusion
The claim that President Akufo-Addo’s image was excluded from a publication meant to honour past leaders is false.
