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Claim: A viral postcard claims Ghana’s minister of foreign affairs said he could not provide his tenancy agreement and the whereabouts of his landlord at his vetting.
Verdict: False! Okudzeto Ablakwah never said he could not find his tenancy agreement or the landlord’s whereabouts.
Full Text
Ghana’s president, John Mahama, promised electorates that he would form a lean team of 60 ministers when he was given the mandate to lead the republic. Less than 30 days after his sworn-in, the first man of the republic has named 40 substantive ministers.
The various minister-designates went through vetting procedures. Some spent less than 30 minutes at the vetting, while others underwent the rigorous process for hours. For instance, Sam Nettey George and Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwah, minister-designates for communications and foreign affairs, spent nearly 6 hours during their vetting.
The vetting process has not been short of misinformation and disinformation. A viral postcard claims the current minister of foreign affairs could not provide a copy of his tenancy agreement during his close to six-hour vetting on Jan. 31, 2025.
“I don’t have a copy of my Airport Hills tenancy agreement, and my landlord has travelled,” the postcard alleged.
DUBAWA decided to investigate this claim to combat misinformation and disinformation in the country.
Verification
DUBAWA’s investigation into this claim involved a thorough review of the entire close-to-six-hour vetting session, which saw the then-minister-designate appear before the appointment committee of the Parliament of Ghana. The entire vetting session is posted on the Ghana Broadcasting Corporation’s YouTube channel.
Alexander Afenyo-Markin, minority leader and ranking member, raised questions during the session, particularly probing Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwah’s tenancy. From the video, questions on tenancy began at the 4:15:34 mark. The conversation was between Ablakwah, Afenyo-Markin, and the Chairperson of the appointment committee, Bernard Ahiafor.
Afenyo Markin: You have indicated home address no. 1 Wilshire Boulevard, Airport Hills. This property is at Airport Hills. How long have you been living at Airport Hills?
Okudzeto Ablakwah: About 8 years.
Afenyo Markin: Is it your own property?
Okudzeto Ablakwah: No, I am renting. I am a tenant.
Afenyo Markin: Airport Hills is a dollar-rented zone. Are you aware?
The vetting process continued, with the committee chairman asking for clarification on the meaning of “dollar rented” and the minority leader asking about the mode of rent payment.
“Well, it depends, and eerrm, chair, I don’t know if you will want me to share the tenancy agreement with you. Errmm, even though I will have to seek … .Eerrmm seek the permission of my dear wife because we do it together,” Ablakwah said.
Ahiafor interceded, asking the nominee not to bother providing details concerning his tenancy. The ensuing interactions focused on the nominee’s activities of exposing the “corruption and loot” of government officials in the past eight years while his party was in opposition.
The minority leader asked if the nominee paid his rent in Cedi or dollars and details of the tax component on his rent.
“Do you deduct withholding tax from your rent at the source because, for every rent, there is a withholding tax element, and then you give the receipt to the landlord? Do you deduct at source and pay to GRA, or do you just pay your rent, and it doesn’t matter how the landlord goes about it?” he queried.
The chairperson of the appointment committee intervened and overruled the question. There were no further questions on the nominee’s tenancy.
DUBAWA’s analysis of the interaction shows that the minister-designate offered to present his tenancy agreement to the committee with the permission of his “dear wife.” At no point in the interaction did he mention that he could not find his Airport Hill tenancy agreement. Further, at no point in the interaction did the minister-designate mention that his “landlord has travelled.”
Also, we observed that the postcard had the News Afrika logo as its source. A Google search led us to the NewsAfrika page on Facebook. As of Feb. 7, 2025, the page had 15,000 likes and 16,000 followers. However, the researcher observed that News Afrika did not post any such postcard on Feb. 4, 2025, as stated on the postcard. Further, we contacted Evans Oppong, owner of the News Afrika page, who confirmed that the postcard did not emanate from him.
“This is fake news and not from News Afrika. I think it’s some individual using our old template to circulate fake news around,” he said.
Conclusion
Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwah did not mention during his vetting that he could not find his tenancy agreement or his landlord’s whereabouts.
