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Claim: Multiple sources have alleged that Dr Mahamudu Bawumia, the 2024 flagbearer of Ghana’s governing New Patriotic Party (NPP), said he would stabilise the cedi if elected because he has studied the country’s economy for “more than seven years.”
Verdict: False. DUBAWA’s checks showed that the Ghanaian Vice President, Dr Mahamudu Bawumia, did not make the alleged comment. Accra-based Citi FM, which purportedly reported the comment, has denied it and described the flyer as a “fake news post.”
Full Text
The 2024 Presidential candidate of Ghana’s governing New Patriotic Party (NPP), Dr Mahamudu Bawumia, allegedly said he can strengthen the cedi because he has studied the Ghanaian economy for “more than seven years now.”
Accra-based online news portal Ghpagenews first posted the flyer with the economist’s image on Instagram on Aug. 4, 2024.
“We shall stabilise the cedi and make the economy better. I can do so because I have studied the Ghanaian economy for more than 7 years now,” Dr Bawumia reportedly said.
Three days later, another online news portal, Ghanaian Celebrities, published a report on the comment and described it as “laughable.”
“Vice President Dr Mahamudu Bawumia has called on Ghanaians to vote for him because once he’s in power, he will easily stabilize the cedi and make the economy better.
According to the NPP flagbearer, he has been studying the economy for the past seven years and is now ready to make things better, but only if Ghanaians vote for him,” Ghanaian celebrities reported on Aug. 7, 2024.
The comment allegedly made by Dr Bawumia has received reactions online here, here, and here.
“You think Ghana’s economy is Nov/Dec…wony3 serious baako s3i. [You are not serious] Where did we even go wrong as a country?? The NPP thinks we’re all dumb. Well! December 7th is not far-fetched.”
Another Instagram user wondered if the West African country could be studied as a university programme.
“Now Ghana is a full programme in the university,” the Instagram user said.
DUBAWA decided to investigate the alleged comment as part of its campaign against misinformation and disinformation in Ghana.
Verification
DUBAWA’s checks showed that the Ghanaian Vice President, Dr Mahamudu Bawumia, did not make the alleged comment.
Accra-based Citi FM, which purportedly reported the comment, denied it and described it as a “fake news post.”
The flyer containing the alleged comment has the media outlet’s logo. However, Citi FM encouraged its audience to disregard it in a Facebook post on Aug. 4, 2024.
“Public Notice! Kindly disregard this fake news post,” Citi FM said.
Also, DUBAWA’s findings from a Google keyword search showed that no credible media organisation in Ghana reported on the alleged comment.
There is no data online to show that Dr Bawumia made the alleged comment attributed to him.
DUBAWA later contacted Ghnewspage, the post’s originator, to find the source of the alleged comment. However, the media outlet has yet to respond.
Conclusion
Ghana’s Vice President, Dr Mahamudu Bawumia, did not say that he has studied the country’s economy for more than seven years. Therefore, the claim is false.
