Claim: Social media users claim this fleet of Mercedes-Benz S550 (2022 Model) was purchased by the government to be used as President Akufo-Addo’s convoy.
False! The photo used to make the claim was taken several years ago outside Ghana and Mercedes-Benz has confirmed that it has no 2022 Model for its S550 vehicle.
Full Text
A viral image circulating on Facebook and Twitter claims to show new vehicles that have been procured by President Akufo-Addo’s government for the presidential convoy.
The claim has been circulating since August 30 and has garnered thousands of reactions and shared widely on both platforms like this, this and that.
“The Ghanaian economy is in a very serious crisis, yet our president @NAkufoAddo wants to live in a grandstyle. The cars you are seeing below are Mercedes S550-2022. Your new presidential convoy,” one of the claimants said in a Tweet.
Is it true that a new fleet of Mercedes-Benz S550 (2022 model) cars has been procured for President Akufo-Addo’s convoy? The Director of Communications at the Jubilee House, Eugene Arhin, responded “No,” when asked.
Dubawa Ghana’s independent fact-checking revealed the following.
Verification
A series of reverse image searches revealed that the image used in the claim has been uploaded and used many times across different online platforms like this long before 2022. Hence, it cannot be a fleet of new vehicles procured by the government for its presidential convoy.
For instance, an Instagram account posted the same photo as far back as March 2017.
Following a message to one of Mercedes-Benz’s public contacts, Mercedes-Benz Careers, on Facebook, it was also confirmed that the brand had no 2022 model of its Mercedes Benz S550 vehicle.
Mercedes-Benz also indicated that it discontinued production of the S550 vehicle in 2017.
“There is no 2022 model available… The Mercedes-Benz S550 was discontinued following the release of the 2017 model,” the outlet wrote in response.
The response, therefore, confirmed that the government couldn’t have purchased any 2022 model of Mercedes-Benz S550.
Conclusion
While we couldn’t find adequate evidence to prove that any procurement was made, we are able to confirm that the image used in the claim was not taken in 2022 and, therefore cannot be an image of new vehicles procured by the government for President Akufo-Addo’s convoy. In addition, there is no vehicle as Mercedes-Benz S550 (2022 Model).
