AnalysisElectionsExplainersPolitics

Imposter content with fabricated flyers, new disinformation trend ahead of Ghana’s election

With a few months until Ghana’s 2024 election, DUBAWA has observed a worrying trend of imposter content couched in fabricated fact cards. This is a double-toxic disinformation strategy in which perpetrators of misinformation and disinformation create flyers to impersonate and vilify political actors.

These perpetrators use templates of credible media outlets in Ghana to make their efforts look legitimate. In other instances, they also attribute bizarre comments and statements to political actors, which are false after investigation. 

In this piece, DUBAWA highlights its observations in the past few months and how bad actors are using these fake visuals to pollute the political information space ahead of Ghana’s 2024 elections.

  1. Joyce Bawah Mogtari says the NDC cannot explain its flagship policy, the 24-hour economy, because of the NPP.  The viral fact card employed Media General’s template to disseminate this narrative. DUBAWA found that the aide to the former president did not make such statements. Find the link to the fact-check report here.
  1. In another instance, Joyce Mogtari reportedly insulted the Asantehene of the Ashanti Region of Ghana after his grand durbar to commemorate his 25th anniversary. The flyer was published on X by a news portal known as NEWSGH360.  DUBAWA’s check revealed that the aide to John Mahama did not make such statements. Find our report on this here. 
  1. Further, John Mahama, the flag bearer of the NDC, was reported to have said that he would grant a presidential pardon to one of his former appointees, Sedina Tamakloe-Attionu, who was jailed by a High Court for causing financial loss to the state. Read our findings, which are otherwise revealed here.
  1. Also, independent candidate and leader of the Movement for Change Alan Kyeremanten, in a similar situation, is reported to have said, “Ghana is for Christians, and Christians must be presidents of Ghana.” DUBAWA’s content analysis of the video revealed that the leader did not make the alleged comment. Find our report here.
  1. Following the demise of John Kumah, Ghana’s former minister of Finance, a viral flyer claimed that the wife of the late minister said that her husband was killed because he was chosen as running-mate by Dr Mahamudu Bawumia, vice president and flag bearer of the NPP in the 2024 elections. DUBAWA’s investigation reported that the wife of the late minister did not say anywhere that her husband was killed because of political ambition.
  1. During his campaign, John Mahama is reported to have promised to gift every market woman an iPhone in one of these viral fact cards. The fact card used the logo of Media General, a renowned media outlet in Ghana. DUBAWA’s findings revealed apparent differences between the viral flyer template and the flyers designed by Media General. Our findings indicated that NDC’s flag bearer did not make such promises.
  1. Similarly, hours after his inaugural speech as the flag bearer of the NPP, Dr Mahamudu Bawumia was reported in one of such viral flyers to have alleged that with his efforts with digitalisation, head potters no longer need head pans to operate. DUBAWA analysed his entire speech and found no mention of head potters in his whole speech. 
  1. Again, in a viral fact card on WhatsApp, Dr Bawumia is reported to have said that he will introduce free visas to the United Kingdom, the United States of America, Canada, and European countries during his campaign tour. DUBAWA’s findings revealed that Media General, the media outlet whose logo was used for the flyer, had nothing like that on their social media pages. Also, a journalist from Media General told DUBAWA that the flyer did not originate from Media General.

Conclusion

With the growing trend of these fact cards, social media users are encouraged to verify from credible sources before sharing. Users can visit such outlets’ websites or official social media pages to confirm if the flyers emanate from them.

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