Public Officials were found five times to have misled the public

As a matter of civic duty, Ghanaian Ministers of State, Regional Ministers, and Members of Parliament are invited on a number of talk shows by television and radio broadcast stations and occasionally hold town hall meetings to speak on issues relevant to the state of the ministries, regions, and constituencies they govern – a good opportunity for the public to receive diverse sectoral and regional information on the progress of the country. But fact-checking will let you know that sometimes these experts in their areas of public service do not always have their facts right. Below are, among several others, five times some Ministers and Members of Parliament were caught five times with citing inaccurate figures and stating false positions on matters concerning the ministries, regions, constituencies, and country they have oversight of.

When the Minister for Food and Agriculture mentioned Ghana to be the only West African country with Fertiliser Subsidy for Farmers

The Minister, Dr. Owusu Afriyie Akoto, said this on the Kokrokoo Morning Show on Peace FM when the host, Kwame Sefa Kayi, questioned him on the reasons fertiliser was being smuggled out of the country and measures taken by the ministry to end fertiliser smuggling. Read about it here.

When Member of Parliament for North Tongu asserted that Ghana recorded the highest Budget Deficit in the World due to COVID-19 expenditure

The MP, Samuel Okudzetu Ablakwa, speaking on Joy News’ socio-political news analysis show, News File, made the assertion when he queried why Ghana’s Parliament could not set up a special bipartisan committee responsible for investigating Ghana’s COVID-19 budget deficit which according to him, was running into billions. What was Ghana’s actual ranking? All the facts are here.

When the Western Regional Minister claimed that the Income of an average poor person In Ghana was GHS 70

Kwabena Okyere Darko-Mensah, made a claim at a government town hall meeting in Sekondi-Takoradi in the Western Region, to support his narrative and education to the community on the proposed electronic transaction levy (e-levy) and the need for his regional members to accept the implementation. Read more on the accurate income of an average poor person in Ghana here.

When Member of Parliament for Builsa South stated poor working conditions as reason for 44,000 Basic School Teachers leaving the profession in 2021

The MP, Dr. Clement Apaak, who is also a deputy ranking member on the Education Committee of Parliament, granted some interviews to 3 FM and other media stations (also published on his Facebook page) where he stated that poor remuneration and lack of logistics constitute the reasons for the basic school teacher attrition rate in 2021. On the contrary, technical factors resulting from the compilation of the data were found to be the main reason. The explanation for the 2021 basic school teacher attrition rate can be found here.

When the Minister for Communications and Digitization claimed that the UK’s Digital Services Tax is about 10%

In another government town hall meeting held in Koforidua in the Eastern Region to educate the public on the government’s proposed e-levy, Ursula Owusu-Ekuful, the Communications and Digitization Minister, in her quest to urge the people to support its implementation, claimed that the government’s e-levy rate of 1.75% was relatively low compared to the UK with a tax rate for Digital Services of about 10%. Find the facts on the UK’s tax rate for Digital Services here.