Claim: A Facebook user, Elikem Sewordor, published what he claims to be a memo from the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC). The post details a plan to mobilise logistics for an Independent Candidate in the Ejisu by-election.
Verdict: False! The memo in circulation is fake. A thorough visual analysis of the memo and the claimant’s failure to provide evidence when contacted leads to this conclusion.
Full Text
On Tuesday, April 30, Ghana had another crucial by-election for the third time before the December 7, 2024, general elections. This time around, it was in the Ejisu constituency of the Ashanti Region following the death of the Member of Parliament, Dr John Kumah.
The election in Ejisu on Tuesday was a two-horse race between the governing NPP’s Candidate, Kwabena Boateng, and Kwabena Owusu-Aduomi, a former Member of Parliament on the ticket of the NPP now contesting as an independent candidate after severing ties with the party.
The election was won by the NPP’s candidate, Kwabena Boateng, a lawyer who secured more than 50% of the valid votes cast.
However, the various political actors in a bid to persuade voters made several pronouncements and claims before the election. Notably, was the claim that the independent candidate, Kwabena Owusu-Adoumi, was being supported by the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) which did not file a candidate for the election.
This claim gained prominence when both President Akufo-Addo and Vice President Dr Mahamoudu Bawumia repeated it in their addresses during the final rallies in the constituency on Sunday.
On the evening of Monday, April 29, a memo purportedly issued by the opposition NDC to mobilise support and logistics for the independent candidate surfaced and was circulated widely on Facebook.
Elikem Sewordor, a popular social media communicator of the NPP is one of those who shared the alleged leaked memo believed to have been signed by the NDC’s General Secretary, Fifi Fiavi Kwetey.
See the post here:
The NDC and its members on social media have since labelled the flier as FAKE.
Verification
It is important to verify the authenticity of the letter (memo) in circulation given its impact on Tuesday’s by-election and also on the candidature of Mr Kwabena Owusu-Adoumi.
To verify the validity of the claim, the researcher first contacted the claimant, Elikem Sewordor for evidence. Mr Sewordor failed to provide any proof and rather directed the researcher to seek answers from the NDC General Secretary.
The researcher also contacted the General Secretary of the NDC Fifi Kwetey for a response but has since not received a reply from him.
The researcher then proceeded to source memos/letters previously issued and signed by the General Secretary of the NDC, Fifi Kwetey from the internet, and also, from his personal Facebook account where he has always posted them.
The intention was to undertake a careful review of these copies against the contentious memo in circulation.
A careful review of memos/letters previously issued by Fifi Kwetey and the memo shared by Elikem revealed two things:
i. There is a clear resemblance between the signatures on both memos.
ii. However, previous letters/memos issued and signed by the NDC General Secretary were done on a letterhead that has no box number or email address indicating a sharp variation in the letterhead shared by the claimant which on the other hand, has these details at the right-top corner.
Alleged leaked memo/letter from the NDC General Secretary, Fifi Fiavi Kwetey.
ii. Letters/memos previously issued and signed by the NDC General Secretary didn’t carry the prefix or title “Hon” against his name. The purported memo has “Hon” prefixed against the General Secretary’s name.
iv. Letters/memos previously issued by the NDC General Secretary have the full details of his portfolio at the left-bottom corner of the letterhead but the purportedly leaked document omitted the traditional “National Democratic Congress(NDC)” which has always been part of the subscription.
Copies of letters/memos formerly issued by the NDC General Secretary, Fifi Fiavi Kwetey.
Conclusion
The discrepancies detected between the memos/letters previously issued by Fifi Fiavi Kwetey and the one in circulation about Tuesday’s by-election, and the claimant’s (Elikem Seworder) inability to prove or provide any evidence to validate the claim are enough to convince the researcher that the flier (memo) is fake and not the one issued by the NDC General Secretary.
The researcher produced this fact-check under the DUBAWA 2024 Kwame KariKari Fellowship, National Endowment for Democracy (NED), to facilitate the ethos of “truth” in journalism and enhance media literacy in the country
