Claim: A Twitter user claimed that John Mahama commissioned a wooden bridge in 2010.
Verdict: False; John Mahama did not commission a wooden bridge in 2010. A Google Reverse Image Search indicates that the picture has been fact-checked and suggests the person in the picture is likely to be a Kenyan or a Tanzanian. It is not ex-president John Mahama.
Full Text
A Twitter (now X) user, Castin Billz, claimed that Mr John Mahama, flagbearer of the NDC, built a substandard bridge during his tenure as vice president in 2010.
The post was captioned: “In 2010, Mahama, as vice president, commissioned this supposed ultra-modern bridge…”
As of this publication, the post had 30,000 views with 26 reposts, 22 quotes and 118 likes.
As part of our campaign against misinformation and disinformation ahead of the 2024 elections, DUBAWA investigated this claim to prevent misinformation.
Verification
DUBAWA conducted a Google Reverse Image Search to trace the image’s origin in the post.
Findings from the search reveal that the image has been subject to several verifications since 2017. The image was part of a gallery posted on Kenyan news and entertainment portal, Nairobi Wire, on Feb. 6, 2017.
The gallery was captioned: “Here’s a compilation of some of the craziest images doing rounds on the internet. As usual, we hope they take those blues away.”
There were no details of the man, where and when the picture was taken.
Further investigations led to a fact check by AFP where the man in the same image was alleged to be a Nigerian politician and had commissioned the wooden bridge at an exorbitant price. The research later found that the person was not a Nigerian politician. This was after several social media users shared that a lawmaker in North West Nigeria had commissioned a wooden bridge for $28,000 (10 million naira).
We found another fact-check report by Africa Check on the same image. This report had findings similar to that of AFP.
Conclusion
The claim that John Mahama built a wooden bridge in 2010 is false. A Google Reverse Image Search indicates the person in the picture is either a Tanzanian or Kenyan and not ex-president John Mahama.
