Claim: In eulogizing the late Japanese Prime Minister, the Founder and Chief Executive Officer of the Atta Mills Institute, Koku Anyidoho, posted a picture purporting to be Shinzō Abe.
The image purported to be Shinzo Abe, former prime minister of Japan, is misrepresented. According to Getty Images and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan, the purported photo is Naoto Kan, also a former Prime Minister of Japan, and not Shinzo Abe.
Full Story
The news about the assassination of the former Prime Minister of Japan, Shinzo Abe, on July 8, 2022, has gone viral with several international and local media outlets reporting the incident.
According to reports, Mr Abe was shot while giving a campaign speech on a street in the City of Nara in Japan. Several statesmen worldwide have begun pouring in their tributes to the Prime Minister and expressing their condolences to his family. One of such persons is the Founder and the Chief Executive Officer of the Atta Mills Institute, Koku Anyidoho.
However, expressing his condolences in a Twitter post on July 8, 2022, Mr Anyidoho said “The Atta Mills Institute expresses our deepest condolences to the family of Shinzō Abe and the People of Japan for the great loss. I personally was part of the trip of President Atta-Mills to Japan, and met the late Prime Minister. May his soul journey well.”
The post was accompanied by a picture of the Late President Mills shaking hands with a man Mr Anyidoho claims to be the late Prime Minister of Japan Shinzo Abe.
Source: Twitter
DUBAWA set out to fact-check the photo.
Verification
Dubawa first conducted a Yandex reverse image search of the photo, and we traced it to the website of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs for Japan. It appears the man shaking hands with the late President Atta Mills was Naoto Kan, also a former Prime Minister of Japan, and not Shinzo Abe.
The photo was posted on September 29, 2010 on the website after President Evans Atta Mills held a bilateral summit meeting at the Prime Minister’s Office who was in Japan on an official working visit on September 9, 2010.
A further search revealed that the photo is licensed under Getty Images, a photo library of creative stock photos, and vector art illustrations. It was attributed to Asahi Shimbun as the creator.
The caption for the photo also reads “Ghana President John Evans Atta Mills and Japanese Prime Minister Naoto Kan shake hands prior to their meeting at Kan’s official residence on September 29, 2010, in Tokyo, Japan.”.
Conclusion
The photo posted by Koku Anyidoho claiming to be that of the late Prime Minister Shinzō Abe is false.
