Claim: Multiple reports say Ghanaian minister Bryan Acheampong said the country’s governing party will not hand over power if the opposition wins the 2024 election.
Verdict: False. An analysis of the Agriculture Minister’s speech indicated he did not make the comment attributed to him. In the speech, Mr Acheampong said the ruling NPP will not hand over power to the opposition NDC because they [NDC] will not win the 2024 election.
Full Text
Multiple reports are saying Ghana’s Agriculture Minister, Bryan Acheampong, has said the country’s governing New Patriotic Party (NPP) will not hand over power to the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) if they [NDC] win the 2024 Presidential election.
The minister, who also serves as a legislator, reportedly made the comment at a gathering of ruling party supporters during the Easter holidays.
A Facebook user wrote on Mar. 31, 2024:
“The man who owns this Hotel in Kwahu is the Agric Minister Bryan Acheampong. He said yesterday at their NPP walk that when the NDC wins power in December, the NPP won’t hand over power. I hope he understands the ramifications of what he said on his investments in the country? If there is total chaos in Ghana because of an electoral dispute, his investments will be specific targets for destruction. THAT’S A FAIR WARNING.”
Another Facebook user also wrote, “Bryan Acheampong, choose between handing over power and your hotel, which is one of the biggest in West Africa. I rest my case.”
Also, see here, here, here, and here for other Facebook commentaries about the minister’s purported comment curated using the Wayback Machine.
Addressing supporters at a rally in the Eastern Region of Ghana, the NDC Youth Organiser, George Opare Addo, challenged the Agriculture Minister to implement his comment about not handing over to the opposition party.
“Mr Acheampong said even when the NDC wins, they will not hand-over. If his family members are alive here in Abetifi, they should advise him. When the time comes [and] he can still stick to what he said, we will see,” Mr Opare Addo said in the Twi language in a video posted on Facebook.
Considering the interest generated by the speech made by the minister, DUBAWA decided to investigate the claims as part of its campaign against misinformation and disinformation in Ghana.
Verification
A content analysis of Ghana’s Agriculture Minister’s speech conducted by DUBAWA showed he did not make the comment attributed to him. In the speech, Mr Acheampong did not say the ruling NPP would not hand over power to the opposition NDC whether or not they [NDC] win the 2024 election. Rather, the lawmakers said that the governing NPP would not hand over power because the opposition NDC would not win the presidential election.
“Last year, I stood here at Mpraeso and said that whether NDC likes it or not, they will never win the December 7 poll, and therefore, the NPP will not hand over power to them because they cannot win the elections. If you cannot win the election, why do you want power to be given to you at all cost?” the minister quizzed in the Twi language, as contained in the audio clip posted on Facebook by the State newspaper, Daily Graphic.
He continued: “As at the time I made the statements, Ghana was confronted with economic challenges which made it difficult for contractors to do their work, unable to continue the agenda 111 project,s among others. But today, things are getting better.”
The audio analysed by DUBAWA does not contain a single instance of the minister saying the ruling NPP will not hand over power whether or not the opposition NDC wins the 2024 Presidential election.
A Google keyword search conducted by DUBAWA showed no media organisation reported the minister as saying the NPP will not hand over to the NDC whether or not they [NDC] win the 2024 election.
Ghanaian State newspaper, Daily Graphic, reported on Mar. 31, 2024, that:
“The Member of Parliament (MP) for Abetifi Constituency, Bryan Acheampong, has reiterated a statement made in 2023 that the National Democratic Congress would not win the 2024 general elections to warrant a handover by the New Patriotic Party (NPP).”
Also, Accra-based Joy FM reported on Apr. 1, 2024, that:
“The Abetifi Constituency MP, Bryan Acheampong, reiterated a statement made last year that the National Democratic Congress (NDC) would not win the 2024 general elections. He stated that the New Patriotic Party (NPP) would not transfer power to the NDC.”
On its part, Accra-based Citi FM reported on Mar. 31, 2024, that:
“Bryan Acheampong, the Member of Parliament for Abetifi Constituency, has reiterated his stance from 2023, asserting that the New Patriotic Party (NPP) will not hand over power to the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) in the upcoming 2024 general elections…According to the Abetifi MP, the NDC would never emerge victorious in the December 7 polls, regardless of their desires. He questioned why a party that cannot win elections would seek power at all costs.”
There is nowhere in the stories monitored by DUBAWA that the media organisations in the country reported the lawmaker as saying the governing NPP will not hand over to the opposition NDC whether or not they [win] the 2024 election.
See other reports here, here, and here, which were also curated using the Wayback Machine.
A Google Trends analysis conducted by DUBAWA showed that the minister has been trending in the Greater Accra Region of Ghana days after his speech, arousing interest in the West African country.
DUBAWA later contacted the NDC National Youth Organiser, George Opare-Addo, to find out if he had any other version of the minister’s speech where he made the comment, which he has attributed to him. However, he has since not responded to DUBAWA’s inquiry.
Conclusion
It is not true that Ghana’s Agriculture Minister Bryan Acheampong said the ruling NPP will not hand over power to the opposition NDC whether or not the NDC wins the 2024 Presidential election in December.
