The Ghana Fact-checking Coalition (GFC) has launched a report on its activities, trends, and patterns of misinformation and disinformation before, during, and after Ghana’s 2024 election.
The event at the Golden Key Hotel on Jan. 29, 2025, saw stakeholders, funders, and parastatals come together to acknowledge the coalition’s timely and crucial intervention in combatting electoral misinformation and disinformation during the general polls.
In his keynote address, the National Media Commission executive secretary, George Sarpong, commended the coalition for ensuring the information environment was sanitised before, during, and after the polls. He highlighted the coalition’s relevance as a key source of verified information when the public had doubts.
“This time, we were not shooting in the dark. Now, the GFC was providing you with empirical info about what kind of misinformation was going,” he said.
George Sarpong, executive secretary of the National Media Commission.
He added that the National Media Commission will study the report critically, pick lessons from it, and decide on the necessary policy interventions to make the coalition central to government and not just elections.
For her part, Dr Aurelia Ayisi, a lecturer at the Department of Communications Studies and the University of Ghana, commended the coalition for providing an election safeguard at a time when the World Economic Forum has adjudged disinformation the greatest threat.
She commended the team’s diligence and fortitude during the election and charged the Coalition members with continuing to sanitise the public space.
Findings
Kwaku Asante-Krobea, senior programmes manager for the Independent Journalism Project at the Media Foundation for West Africa and a member of the Coalition, presented the report’s key findings to the attendees.
According to him, the team comprising DUBAWA, Fact-check Ghana, and Ghana Fact fact-checked some 142 claims. Of the total number of claims, 79 were deemed to be false, with some 28 found to be true.
Even more worrying was that some of the claims were AI generated with voices mimicking the two leading presidential candidates.
The report also pointed out some bad actors notorious for sharing false information during the period.
It was clear that social media was the most used vehicle for sharing the claims, which amplified the need for the country to reconsider how to manage its social media turf.
Recommendations
As part of the recommendations, Kwaku Asante-Krobea highlighted the need for the Election Security Taskforce to exhibit openness and willingness to work with the media and the coalition in future events. He emphasised the need for a more vibrant social media presence and response to information disorder as soon as they gather evidence.
Kwaku Asante-Krobea, senior programs manager at MFWA, during his presentation.
He admonished the government to advance processes to ensure the fruition of the national framework for misinformation and disinformation and the initiation of digital media and information literacy.
The way forward
Presenting the coalition’s action plan and roadmap for future collaboration, Nathan Gadugah, editor for DUBAWA, highlighted the coalition’s goal of not sitting idle till the next election. He mentioned the coalition’s aim to remind the new government to put measures to implement the misinformation and disinformation framework.
“As a coalition, we will petition the new government about the existence of the draft framework and get the government to work towards finalising the framework as a working document in combating disinformation. That framework will inform our next line of action,” he said.
Nathan Gadugah, editor DUBAWA.
He reiterated the coalition’s plans to deal with constant perpetrators of misinformation and disinformation. Through collective efforts, the coalition will monitor, name, and shame these bad actors. He assured stakeholders, CSOs, funders, and the general public of the coalition’s plan to put these bad actors on their toes.
The event hosted a panel session themed “Countering Electoral Disinformation: Lessons from Ghana’s 2024 elections,” moderated by Rabiu Alhassan, coordinator for GFC. The panel session allowed panellists and participants to share experiences and measures to foster a strong coalition ahead.
Photo of a copy of the report.
The Ghana Fact-checking Coalition is funded by the US Embassy in Ghana, Full Fact AI, WANEP, Google News Initiative, Africa Check, CODEO, and CDD.
Find a link to the report here.
A cross-section of participants at the launch.
