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Claim: Many social media posts and news reports claim that the IMF in its April 2021 Fiscal Monitor document has downgraded Ghana’s economic classification to low-income status. 

The classification of Ghana as a Low-Income Developing Country in the IMF’s April 2021 Fiscal Monitoring document is not a downgrade as it has been so in most of the IMF’s previous reports including those dating back to April 2017. 

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Many social media posts and news reports including those from NorvanReports, and Twitter users claim that Ghana has been downgraded from a Middle-Income Country to a Low-Income Country status. 

The publications cited the IMF’s April 2021 Fiscal Monitor Report as the source of the information. 

The 104-paged IMF document, published on April 1, 2021 presented an overview of the fiscal actions taken by various countries in response to COVID-19 and how they can get ahead of the pandemic and towards economic recovery.

Page 60 of the document listed Ghana amongst the low-income developing countries.

But does this confirm claims that the IMF has downgraded Ghana’s economic classification? 

Verification

In authenticating the veracity of the claim, we assessed the IMF’s previous Fiscal Monitor report produced in October 2019 and noticed that on page 42, Ghana was already classified as a low-income developing country.

With the IMF’s Fiscal Monitor report produced twice each year, we went through all previous reports up to April 2017 and discovered that Ghana had consistently been listed as a low-income developing country in those reports.

This goes to make the case that there hasn’t been a downgrade of the country’s classification at least for the 10 previous reports examined. 

Further verification      

In response to an email inquiry, Senior Communication Officer at the IMF Press Office in Washington, US, Lucie Mboto Fouda said the classification of countries in the IMF’s Fiscal Monitor is solely for analytical purposes and cannot be related to the World Bank’s classification. 

While the IMF document breaks down countries into three groupings, the World Bank, whose classification is also widely accepted, does its classification in four groupings. 

“Please be advised that for analytical purposes, the IMF Fiscal Monitor breaks down countries into three groupings: 

1) Advanced Economies; 

2) Emerging Market and Middle-Income Economies; and

3) Low-Income Developing Countries.

This analytics classification is not new and it does not have an effect on the eligibility on the classified countries’ access to IMF or World Bank facilities,” she indicated. 

We observe that in the World Bank’s classification, Ghana is listed as a lower-middle income country. 

‘World Bank’s classification a better measure’

Professor Kwesi Quartey, the Director of the Institute of Statistical, Social and Economic Research (ISSER) at the University of Ghana, explained in a separate phone interview that there may be confusion between the World Bank’s classification and the IMF’s classification. 

“The world bank classifies countries according to their per capita income so if your income is above a certain threshold, then you are classified as a middle income or if it is above a certain threshold then you are a low-income country…According to the world bank classification, we are a low-middle income country…”

“The IMF classification looks at fiscal data whereas the World Bank classification looks at income per capita, in other words, your GDP (total income), if we were to share it equally across the population, what will be each person’s share and that is what we call per capita income.” 

Prof. Quartey, however, said he believes the World Bank’s classification presents a better profile of a country’s economic status as the IMF’s classification is “a narrow way of defining a country in terms of its economic status.”

Per the World Bank’s latest country classification update of July 1, 2020, Ghana remains a low-middle income country. It is among the 50 countries of the world in that category. 

The claimants appear to be basing their claim on the erroneous assumption that Ghana, a known lower-middle-income country (According to the World Bank) is now a low-income developing country (According to the IMF). 

This is wrong because the two classifications are independent of each other and calculated differently by the two separate organizations. 

Conclusion

Our findings from about 10 previous Fiscal Monitor reports of the IMF show that Ghana has consistently been classified as a low-Income developing country; hence, it is false to claim that the 2021 report shows a downgrading of Ghana’s economic classification.

Claim: Having your partner suck your breasts will reduce the chances of getting breast cancer.

False. Although it has been established that breastfeeding a baby can reduce the chances of getting breast cancer because of hormones stimulated by such action, the same cannot be said for sucking your partner’s breast.

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Social media users and many online portals have circulated stories that suggest that the suckling of breasts, especially by spouses or partners, can reduce chances of breast cancer in both men and women. A Facebook post on March 18th, 2021, which suggested that women do not like their breasts sucked, generated comments  which once again brought out the claim in question.

Members of the group within which the post was published responded, with many highlighting breast sucking as a remedy or preventative measure for breast cancer.

Other posts claimed the ‘remedy’ has been recommended by health experts.

“Doctors recommend that women reduce the risk of breast cancer, by having their breasts sucked. In a BBC news publication, it was reported that regular sucking of the breast lowers the risk of cancer. The breasts must be sucked as often as possible, to help women fight breast cancer. Please Suck and Save a Life Today.- Cancer Research.”

A leading online news platform also carried this  news in July 2010.

Dubawa set out to uncover if breast suckling among partners and mother to child can prevent the development of breast cancer.

Verification

We found that although a lot has been written on the level of truth of this claim, many continue to circulate and believe the veracity of the claim.

Dubawa spoke to Dr. Bismark Dwobeng, a medical doctor at Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital (Radiation Oncologist), who attested to having heard this claim. He said that as an oncologist, however, he does not believe that there is any truth in claim.

“What we know about the breast being sucked is for babies because there is evidence for mothers who are able to breastfeed their children having reduced risks. Even in this case, we cannot say necessarily that it prevents breast cancer. What we can say is that the risks are reduced for women who breastfeed.”

 Dr Dwobeng added that even though the claim is untrue, some truth may be in the assertion  in terms of detection of breast cancer.

“In Ghana, most women present with breast cancer at late stages. So the little truth is that maybe, just maybe, if someone has access to your breast frequently, then there will be a higher chance that any changes to the breast may be identified. Someone seeing the breast can tell if there has been a change in look or weight or size. In that case, partners can contribute to diagnosing breast cancer early rather than the late cases that we have been recording,” Dr Dwobeng said.

In tracing the source of the claim, we found that most of the publications which reported that breast sucking by a partner can  prevent or reduce risks of developing breast cancer according to a BBC report. These publications have been in existence for years with some going as far back as 2010, 2013, 2014 and as recent as 2020 in relation to the  claim in question. 

After rigorous search on the BBC website, scanning through over 20 pages of content on breast cancer related reports, our search revealed a 2002 article on BBC titled “Extra breastfeeding prevents cancer.” Excerpts of the report state that “Thousands of women might be spared the agony of breast cancer if they extended the period for which they suckle their babies.”

The article does not make mention of adult suckling of the breast preventing breast cancer development. It does, however, add that extended breastfeeding could remedy breast cancer development in breastfeeding women. 

Dubawa has also reached out to BBC to find out if they have ever published a report claiming that breast sucking by partners can reduce chances of developing breast cancer.

According to the Center for Disease Control (CDC), breastfeeding lowers risks of developing breast cancer in mothers. 

Dubawa also came across articles that clear the air on the claim of breast sucking and breast cancer prevention.

In October 2018, Ghanaweb published an article that indicated that men sucking on breasts will not prevent breast cancer development. The study cited Dr. Naa Adorkor Ayeetey who was then a Senior Resident Doctor at the Radiotherapy Department of the Korle Bu Teaching Hospital. According to the video embedded in the report, it is a fallacy to think that sucking on the breasts of partners will reduce the risk of breast cancer.

“There is a single truth. Breastfeeding a baby will reduce your risk of getting cancer. Breastfeeding a man on the other hand will not reduce the risk but it will not increase your risk either. The reason is that when you are breastfeeding a baby, you produce a certain hormone that reduces the estrogen in your blood and so you are protected. When breastfeeding a man, that does not happen and so you are not protected.”

A similar report with the same conclusion was published by Punch Nigeria in October 2019.

Conclusion

Having your partner suck on your breasts will not prevent or reduce chances of developing breast cancer. However, it may help identify changes in the breast, prompting further tests to ascertain if one has breast cancer.

To mark International Fact-Checking Day on 2 April, Dubawa hosted the general public to a two-hour webinar on Zoom which was also live streamed on Facebook on 1 April under the theme “International Fact-Checking Day: Experiences of victims of fake news and fact-checkers”. The webinar, set in an informal atmosphere, offered seven panelists the opportunity to share their unique experiences with information disorder. 

The first set of panelists were two victims of misinformation – a Ghanaian politician and a Nigerian pastor. George Andah, former Deputy Communications Minister and Member of Parliament for Awutu Senya West in Ghana and Daniel Olugbenga Olugola, pastor and founder of Beautiful Feet World Missions in Nigeria, took turns giving air to the effects fake news has had on them.

George Andah, who was alleged by some websites and social media users to have displayed a gun at a registration centre to scare his opponents, delineated the incident as a photo of him musketeering at a traditional coronation event taken out of context to depict the supposed political situation. Andah expressed the difficulty in dealing with misinformation and its concomitant emotions.

“It is quite difficult dealing with such false accusations. It is disorientating, it is confusing… to some extent it even gets quite painful. It makes you really mistrust people. It leaves you with the fear of human interactions and you sometimes become paranoid as to who else you can trust,” Andah said.   

Andah further revealed that having served in frontline politics, one was regarded as fair game for such propaganda and has been a victim of several politically-motivated allegations beside this particular incident. Nonetheless, as a matter of principle, he resorted to taking legal action against these cases of false representation. He mentioned the Electronics Communications Act as the law protecting victims of misinformation and emphasised to all participants on the webinar, the need to understand and use this law (as he did, and has won some cases) to deter perpetrators of fake news from further propagating such stories. 

Daniel Olugbenga Olugola, also recounted his decision to appeal for financial support on social media to aid his ailing daughter but was exploited by scammers which resulted in a diversion of the money intended for a test. Olugola’s daughter was diagnosed with a sinonasal tumor and he had gone through the emotional trauma of seeing his daughter in pain which had him in tears daily. In spite of this, several people who feigned to be in solidarity with his family and reposted his appeal on social media, edited some of the information in order to transfer the financial donations into their personal accounts other than that of the Olugolas. 

Unfortunately, Olugola’s daughter died after a complication – a situation he described as incomprehensible. Similarly, he stated that he could not comprehend people’s intention to profit from his family’s ordeal.

“That thing that happened, this misinformation, that scam, it really made me think… how can some people be listening to situations that are making a family cry, and how can they see it as an opportunity to be making money for themselves,” Olugola said.

Olugola revealed that to his surprise, other pastors were found to be involved in this spread of misinformation to exploit him. He further cautioned against the severe consequences misinformation can have, especially on people in pain.

The next set of panelists were five fact-checkers from verified fact-checking organisations in Nigeria, Ghana and Sierra Leone. Oluwasegun Olakoyenikan from AFP Nigeria, Silas Jonathan from Dubawa Nigeria, Roselena Ahiable from Dubawa Ghana, Sani Abdul Rahman from GhanaFact and Alie Tarawally from Dubawa Sierra Leone described the modus operandi and challenges involved in their line of work in the era of a COVID-19 pandemic. 

Sani Abdul-Rahman, who practised as a journalist for over five years before engaging in full-time fact-checking in Ghana, foregrounded the difference between the work of a mainstream journalist  and the work of a fact-checker. He stated that by simply publishing the news reports as a journalist, there was always the interest to break the story first instead of getting it right. This, he identified, was a fuel of misinformation and disinformation in the entire world – a situation he appreciated during the course of fact-checking. 

“When I started fact-checking I had to first apologise to my conscience and to the many people that have come across my reports as a journalist because I realised that I was just confusing people. If I put together all that I’ve gathered  in my work as a journalist, I can say 90% of the report and the data that I churned out in my report were inaccurate and I got to realise that when I started fact-checking,” Rahman said. 

Roselena Ahiable further listed the procedure of fact-checking which would involve media monitoring on both social media and legacy media to source for claims, researching, interviewing both the people implicated in the story and authoritative sources, writing the report, editing and consequently, publishing the check. She emphasised the importance of timeliness in producing fact-checks to help discerning audiences engage with the truth of a topical or trending issue. 

Silas Jonathan added that for claims which did not necessitate interviewing people such as manipulated videos and photos, the fact-checker was required to apply the appropriate digital tools to verify such content. 

All fact-checkers agreed that audience acceptance was a challenge to their work. Olowasegun Olakoyenikan, who monitors the information ecosystem in some anglophone West African states, attributed the information disorder in Nigeria to the country’s large population and wide internet penetration of its citizens. He further stated that the nature of Nigeria’s diverse culture, religion and beliefs affected how polarised a fact-check could become if it favoured or disfavoured the parties incriminated in a story. Abdul-Rahman mentioned the similarity of this situation in Ghana by exemplifying the major culprits to be politicians and their followers. He stated that such a category of people, when found to be on a favourable side of the check would exalt the work of fact-checkers, but when found to be on a disfavourable side of the check, tend to consequently denigrate the work of fact-checkers.

Further, fact-checkers agreed that the inconsistencies in data sets and the unavailability of the sources to a data was also problematic to them, where Abdul-Rahman gave a number of instances he had encountered such with claims made by Ghanaian Ministers of State.

Alie Tarawally, in response to the severity of information disorder confronting the Sierra Leonean mediascape, justified the legislation against misinformation to facilitate fact-checking. He explained that particularly because of the situations of the Ebola epidemic and COVID-19 pandemic in the country, the need for a cyber law to govern fake news that continues to spiral on social media was instituted. 

All fact-checkers acknowledged the gratification that resulted from the fulfilled objective of accurately informing people. They also agreed that in spite of the unending cycle of misinformation and verbal attacks, fact-checkers needed to be intentional with occasionally taking a break from media monitoring to help them de-stress from the mental fatigue, trauma and depression engendered by the nature of their work. Additionally, it was agreed that more lingual channels should be open and made more accessible to inform the misinformed local dialect speakers in African countries, not just English-speaking audiences, to further the impact of fact-checking.

Claim: Human bites contain germs that can lead to infections with studies showing that hepatitis B, hepatitis C, herpes simplex virus, syphilis, tuberculosis, actinomycosis and tetanus are transmissible through bites.

True. Human bites can be dangerous and should be treated immediately as the risk of infection from bites can be deadly.

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Social media user @aproko_doctor posted a thread indicating the dangers associated with being bitten by humans. His claims include the risk of being infected with hepatitis B, hepatitis C, herpes simplex virus, syphilis, tuberculosis, actinomycosis and tetanus which are transmissible through  human bites.

Verification

Dubawa spoke to Dr Kasule Iddrisu Yakubu, a Medical Officer at Bolga Regional Hospital, who confirmed that indeed, human bites can cause the infections and the spread of diseases as stated in the claim.

“Yes, once the person biting is infected, then yes. It is possible. You know when the person bites, the person creates holes on the skin, and as spread can take place through secretions, it creates the chance for whatever it is to invade into the skin through the bloodstream. Once there is bleeding, the chance for whatever disease to seep in has been created,” Dr Kasule said.

A number of studies reviewed also corroborated the doctor’s explanation.

According to a publication by Johns Hopkins Medicine, “bites from humans can easily become infected due to the numerous bacteria that is found in the mouth”.

“ …human bite wounds are more likely to become infected than dog or cat bites,” the publication added.

Furthermore,  an article by Dr. Akshima Sahi, BDS  on news-medical.net states that there are over 700 bacterial species  that inhabit the human mouth. These bacteria are found all over the mouth in areas like the tonsillar area, teeth, tongue and the soft and hard palate.

Additionally, The NewYork State Department of Health lists human bites as a source of hepatitis B spread. 

Hepatitis B is spread through blood, saliva and other bodily fluids. Although the concentration of the virus that causes hepatitis B is low in saliva, it can still be infectious, especially in instances of direct injection into the blood through bites. 

However, some reports suggest that it is unlikely to get infected with Hepatitis C and HIV through human bites. However “unlikely” it is said to be does not take away from the fact that bites from people who have blood in their mouth through cuts, mixed with saliva, may lead to an  infection. The case of a man who got HIV from his HIV-positive foster son after getting his thumbnail bitten off during a fight, lends credence to this possibility. This example indicates strongly that although unlikely, ruling out the possibility could be dangerous.

A publication by Barrett Jefrey, MD Associate Professor of Emergency Medicine, Department of Emergency Medicine, Temple University School of Medicine and Revis R. Don, MD Consulting Staff, Department of Surgery, Division of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, University of Florida College of Medicine in 2012, also supported the claim made by @aproko_doctor. The report lists syphilis, tuberculosis, actinomycosis, tetanus, herpes simplex virus, hepatitis C and B as diseases that can be transmitted through human bites. 

The manual Managing Human Bite Injuries Guidance for Health Protection Teams by Gary Porter-Jones, on behalf of the Wales Health Protection Team, instructs on what to do when bitten. It details directives for immediate assessment and care of the wound, care for bacterial infections, blood-borne virus infections, tetanus infections, follow-up among others.  

Conclusion

The claim that human bites contain germs which have potential to cause infections is true. Several studies and a doctor’s confirmation confirm that human bites should be treated seriously and in a timely manner. 

International Fact-checking Day and Dubawa’s contribution to mark the day.

If there was ever a year fact-checkers worked around the clock, 2020 would easily be considered as that year. Faced with a global pandemic and its accompanying misinformation and a political and electoral season with its associated propaganda for some countries, fact-checkers were kept busy debunking all manner of fake news in 2020. The misconception of our work as censorship, enduring the days of verbal and legal attacks, the days of writer’s block, the days of no available sources to speak to on a claim, the days of burn out… We too, deserve a day the world appreciates the work we do.

April 2 is International Fact-Checking Day, and what a coincidence (or not) it is to be held right after April Fool’s Day on 1 April – a day of facetious fake news, hoaxes, and pranks. International Fact-Checking Day (IFCD), a partnership between the International Fact-Checking Network (IFCN) and fact-checking organisations around the world, is held annually and this year will mark the fifth since its inception in 2017.  

To help mitigate the injurious effects of the COVID-19 infodemic on the public, the IFCN formed the #CoronaVirusFacts Alliance by mobilising fact-checkers from more than 70 countries across the world who submitted over 3,000 COVID-19 related fact-checks found in a searchable database. This initiative will serve as the main highlight for 2021’s IFCD in honour of the collaborative work of fact-checkers fighting COVID-19 related misinformation. To participate in this global conversation on 2 April on Twitter, anyone can follow @factchecknet or engage with the hashtag #FactcheckingDay. 

Dubawa, which is a signatory under the IFCN, will equally be marking the day across its three West African countries – Nigeria, Ghana, and Sierra Leone. Beside amplifying basic fact-checking techniques through videos on social media in the week ahead, the team would be hosting the general public to a webinar. 

The webinar is intended to offer a human interest perspective to misinformation and fact-checking by providing an opportunity to victims of misinformation and fact-checkers to share their unique experiences with the public. It is expected that hearing from the ‘horse’s own mouth’ will lead to the much desired behaviour change required in fighting misinformation and encourage everyone to at least verify before sharing. 

The panelists consist of fact-checkers who have been selected from verified fact-checking outlets in Africa: Dubawa (Ghana, Sierra Leone and Nigeria), GhanaFact (Ghana) and AFP (Nigeria) and a victim of misinformation, the former Deputy Minister of Communication and Member of Parliament of Awutu Senya West Constituency in the Central Region of Ghana, George Andah, who was purported to have displayed a gun at a registration centre prior to the 2020 Ghana elections.

Although initially planned for 2 April, the webinar will be held instead on 1 April at 10am GMT on Dubawa Facebook live and Zoom, in consideration of the Easter holiday also happening on 2 April. What better way to spend April Fools Day than to listen to fact-checkers help you decipher the information you receive and to listen to victims of misinformation share the effects fake news has had on them, so you do not fall prey. Join us on Facebook live at @dubawa.

Latest Fact-checks

False: The little boy in yellow is NOT the Covid-19 vaccine inventor

An image of a man, woman and four children, making the rounds on WhatsApp and other social media platforms is being purported to be the family portrait of Dr. Ugur Sahin. The text specifically states that the little boy in yellow and wearing no shoes is Dr. Sahin, the Chief Executive Officer of BioNTech, a German biotech company, which along with its Pfizer partner from the United States, developed the coronavirus vaccine. However, this was found to be false.

Click here for the full fact-check

Old media report of traditional priest denied SHS admission resurfaces as new 

Recent news reports of two Rastafarians allegedly being denied admission to Achimota Senior School because of their dreadlocks has dominated Ghanaian media discussions. Shortly, another report emerged that an 18-year-old traditional priest had also been denied admission to Dzodze-penyi Senior High School due to his religious beliefs. However, this particular incident happened in 2018, and not in 2021 as was reported. 

Click here for the full fact-check

Can You Be Jailed for Not Honouring an Agreement to Visit After Accepting Money for that Purpose? 

A post in circulation by Ghanaian social media users suggests that men,  who find themselves in situations of sending transport money to a lady to visit them without the lady fulfilling the promise or refunding the money  are eligible to file a case against such ladies for defrauding by false pretense. But legal experts have explained that in order to file viable cases on the basis of defrauding by false pretense in cases similar to what the claim in question suggests, certain criteria need to be met. Such cases are also considered on their individual basis, with considerations made on the ingredients of the case.

Click here for the full fact-check

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Claim: It is a criminal offense, punishable by law in Ghana to take money on the basis of  a promised visit and not show up.

More context needed. The criminal law Act 29 Section 130 criminalises fraud on the basis of false pretense; however, the case suggested in this claim is dependent on many factors.

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A post in circulation by Ghanaian social media users suggests that men,  who find themselves in situations of sending transport money to a lady to visit them without the lady fulfilling the promise or refunding the money  are eligible to file a case against such ladies for defrauding by false pretense.

Verification

A Google reverse Image Search revealed that the photo accompanying the post is a photo of Nigeria’s Dolapo Badmus, former spokesperson of the Lagos State Police Command, although the law cited in the claim pertains to Ghana’s criminal code, Act 29 Section 132.

What does Act 29 Section 132 of Ghana’s criminal law say?

According to Section 131 of the Criminal Law, a person is guilty of defrauding by false pretence if “ by means of any false pretence, or by personation he obtains the consent of another person to part with or transfer the ownership of anything.” 

Section 133 further explains false pretence to be the “representation of the existence of a state of facts made by a person, either with the knowledge that such representation is false or without the belief that it is true, and made with an intent to defraud.” 

Such representations can be through written or spoken word:

“(2) For the purpose of this section— 

(a) a representation may be made either by written or spoken words, or by personation, or by any other conduct, sign, or means of whatsoever kind; 

(b) the expression “a representation of the existence of a state of facts” includes a representation as to the non-existence of any thing or condition of things, and a representation of any right, liability, authority, ability, dignity or ground of credit or confidence as resulting from any alleged past facts or state of facts, but does not include a mere representation of any intention or state of mind in the persons making the representation, nor any mere representation or promise that anything will happen or be done, or is likely to happen or be done”.

A person who defrauds by false pretence, according to Section 131 of the Act, is guilty of second degree felony.

So can you be jailed if you fail to show up after ‘bagging’ the money?

Dubawa spoke to Zakaria Tanko Musah, a legal practitioner and lecturer at the Ghana Institute of Journalism (GIJ) and Patrick Larweh Kpalam, a private legal practitioner who explained that issues like this would be generally case dependent. It is not a one cap fits all. 

Some cases, like those below, are quite clear cut.

Take for example, the case of Mark Adjei, an unemployed person with disability who was convicted and fined by a Circuit Court at Goaso in the Asunafo North Municipality of Brong-Ahafo Region for defrauding one Salifu Halidu. Adjei pretended to be a travel agent who procured visas for individuals interested in traveling to Australia. He made away with Halidu’s money while pretending to be a travel and tour agent.

This is similar to the case of The Republic Vrs Stephen Kwabena Opuni, Seidu Agongo And Agricult Ghana Limited, where Stephen Kwabena Apuni, Seidu Agongo and Agricult Ghana Limited defrauded COCOBOD of some large sum of money by false pretense.

Other cases of defrauding by false pretense, however, are not so clear-cut and as such, would require that the ingredients of the offense are looked at to ascertain judgement.

It is important, therefore, to first make this clear – not all agreements are contracts. Contracts are agreements that give rise to obligations which are enforceable or recognized by law. 

What makes an agreement a contract and enforceable by law?

• An offer
• Acceptance
• Intention to create legal relation
• The capacity of parties and 
• Lawful consideration. 

An agreement that doesn’t give room for legal obligation, like the one suggested in this claim, renders a contract void and invalid. The following is an example.

“Agreements of moral, religious or social nature, for example, Goodnuff promises Fafali to party together at Abigail’s house or to buy Fafali a Mercedes Benz after breaking her virginity are not contracts because they are not likely to create a duty enforceable by law for the simple reason that the parties never intended that they should be attended by legal consequences.”

However, in some cases, as for every action there is a defense, if it can be clearly proven that the party, in this particular case, the woman who was given money on the promise of visitation, does in fact meet the requirements of the definition of defrauding by false pretense, then yes , a case is viable.

It must also be proven that no other conditions prevented the person from showing up as agreed and that it was a valid contract with all the requirements having been met.

Additionally, the conduct and representation of the lady to the man (or woman) must fit into the definition of defrauding by false pretense. Was there an agreement for the lady to take the  money and show up to his house? If there is a contractual agreement to send the money on the premise of you visiting and you don’t show up, you have parted away with the person’s money and would then be liable.

Some stories of online scammers fit this scenario. Much like this BBC report on the world of Ghana’s internet fraudsters which tells the tale of a young man who pretends to be a woman online to dupe foreign nationals of money and other similar stories.

Conclusion

In order to file viable cases on the basis of defrauding by false pretense in cases similar to what the claim in question suggests, certain criteria need to be met. Such cases are also considered on their individual basis, with considerations made on the ingredients of the case.

Claim: Various news portals say a traditional priest has recently been denied admission to Dzodze-Penyi SHS due to his religious beliefs.

Although such an incident occurred at Dzodze-Penyi SHS, it happened in 2018 and not in 2021 as being reported.

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News reports of two Rastafarians allegedly being denied admission to Achimota Senior School because of their dreadlocks dominated media discussions last week. The report was widely covered by news organizations such as Myjoyonline and GhanaWeb who confirmed the situation. 

Another report emerged later that an 18-year-old traditional priest had also been denied admission to Dzodze-penyi Senior High School due to his religious beliefs. 

The victim, Galley Felix, reportedly wore a cap after being initiated as a priest but the school’s administrators insist that he removes the cap before he is granted admission. 

This report has been published on various news websites including Adomonline and Pulse.com.gh. 

Verification

We conducted a google search with the name of the school, restricting our search to news reports and found the same report dating back to November 2018. 

Further search on the subject showed that other news portals had also reported it in 2018. These include citinewsroom.com and Yen.com.gh, suggesting that the incident actually happened in November 2018 and not recently as was published by some portals. 

The journalist credited to have filed the report for citinewsroom.com, Benjamin Aklama confirmed to Dubawa Ghana that the incident occurred in November  2018.

“The report was originally filed in 2018. The subject of the report,  Felix Galley, is a traditional priest whose religion forbids him from removing a blue cap from his head in public. The Dzodze-Penyi Senior High School had initially asked him to remove the cap or forfeit his admission into the school.  The school however rescinded its decision after a Citi News report,” he said in a WhatsApp text.

Meanwhile, the said victim, Felix Galley in a phone interview confirmed that the incident occurred in 2018 and that nothing of that nature has happened this year. He said he is currently a student of the school and in his final year.  

“It is an old news and that was the first time I got admission to the school. This was resolved later and this time around, there is nothing like that. Yes [it happened in 2018]. They admitted me. Now I am in my last year.” 

Conclusion

The media reports that a traditional priest has been denied admission at the Dzodze-penyi SHS due to his religious beliefs is not new. The incident occurred in November 2018.  

Exactly a year has gone by since the World Health Organisation (WHO) announced on 11 March 2020 that the COVID-19 outbreak had officially become a global pandemic. Unfortunately, Ghanaians had very little time to process this information and its implications on their way of life, as the next day, 12 March 2020, the country recorded her first two COVID-19 cases. 

The anxiety, uncertainty and quest to unravel this mystery of a novel Coronavirus shifted the pandemic beyond a health crisis to an information crisis which the WHO describes as an infodemic. In view of this, the launch of Dubawa in Ghana on 25 February 2020 has been considered felicitous in its timely contribution to fighting the COVID-19 infodemic that besieged the world jointly with the COVID-19 pandemic. 

Ghana’s fight against the pandemic 

The WHO advised on a number of global COVID-19 transmission and protective measures, many of which the government of Ghana, through periodic updates by the President, instituted. Among the various interventions implemented to help combat the spread of COVID-19, the country went under a partial lockdown to reduce physical movements while fumigating markets centres and institutions. Also, while the government increased the COVID-19 testing capacity to facilitate the case count and identify all infected people for treatment, there were also restrictions on mass gatherings and physical contacts, such as hand-shakes, a compulsory wearing of masks in public places directive, and the washing and sanitizing of hands protocol. 

During this period, many scientific interventions were also being investigated as some Ghanaian institutions contributed in the capacities that they could. Noguchi Memorial Institute for Medical Research and WACCBIP, for example, were among the frontline research centres studying the mutability of the virus in the Ghanaian context while a number of local manufacturers produced hand sanitizers and face masks, face shields and protective gowns to help mitigate the spread of the virus.

By the end of 2020, there was news of international vaccines that had passed approval from the WHO. Consequently, in February 2021, Ghana received the first consignment of vaccines from the COVAX facility, to facilitate the government’s nation-wide vaccination agenda which started on March 2, 2021 and is currently on-going.

Dubawa’s fight against the infodemic 

While governments, scientists and health workers were (and still are) diversely fighting the spread of the virus, fact-checkers have also since the outbreak of the pandemic waded in to fight the spread of misinformation and disinformation to control its effect on the public. By reviewing scientific research, consulting health experts, and using the (non) validation of the WHO and CDC on emerging topics, Dubawa investigated several COVID-19 related claims including conspiracy theories, purported preventive measures, purported cures, the virus’ transmissibility through temperature, second-hand clothing, public transport, sewage systems, and asymptomatic COVID-19 patients, the recovery status of COVID-19 patients,  political allegations on the former president and sitting president, and a host of COVID-19 vaccine misinformation – most of which were found to be falsehood stemming from people’s anxiety about the novelty of the virus, their uncertainty about cures, treatment and vaccines, or their sheer mischief to deceive others. 

Furthermore, collectively, Dubawa and the government of Ghana, cautioned on the dangers of COVID-19 misinformation, as Dubawa provided Ghanaians with verified COVID-19 information as well as basic tips on fact-checking via the Ministry of Information’s press briefing platform. This platform enabled Dubawa to reach a wider Ghanaian audience on both online media  and mainstream media including airing of findings on national television. 

Retrospectively, as Ghana joins the world to reflect on the eventfulness of the COVID-19 year from the onset of the pandemic till date, concerns are also growing on the emerging implications the present global vaccination agenda brings in relation to the introduction of a vaccine passport. This is a concern which not only anti-vaccine travellers would have to deal with but that fact-checkers too would need to contend with, as new misinformation on the subject occur.

Latest Fact-checks

False! Michael Essien did not lose 1 million followers over LGBTQI post 

In the heat of the many-sided LGBTQI+ discussions in Ghana, popular Ghanaian footballer, Michael Essien, showed his support for the LGBTQI+ community in Ghana in an Instagram post. Many websites, thereafter, claimed that Essien had lost over 1 million followers on Twitter following his show of solidarity on social media with groups demanding equal rights for the LGBTQI+ community in Ghana. However, Dubawa found this claim to be false. Click here for the full fact-check

Fact-checking Africa Facts Zone’s Claims on Ghana’s Global and African Positioning: A Case of over oversimplification

A Facebook post by Africa Facts Zone made a number of claims on Ghana’s African and global positioning. It stated that the country has free education and free basic healthcare, and serves as the world’s fastest growing economy in 2019 and 2018, Africa’s third most peaceful country, Africa’s third strongest currency, Africa’s fourth most powerful country, and Africa’s fourth cheapest internet.

After the indication from the owner of the page IsimaOdeh to Dubawa that the claims were based on basic google research, Dubawa fact-checked the claims and found some to be true and others false. Click here for the full fact-check

Purported CNN bulletin photo claiming vaccinated COVID-19 patients eat other patients in hospital is fabricated 

A photo purporting to be a CNN live bulletin claiming that hospitals were on lockdown as the first COVID-19 vaccine patients started eating other patients  was found to be fabricated. Not only was the photo found to be fabricated, but the claims were also found to be untrue as CNN had made no such reports. Read the full fact-check here

False: NaCCA has not approved Golden Publication’s, English for Basic 4, for distribution or use

Some Ghanaian Twitter users have been caught in a debate over a textbook purported to be approved by Ghana Education Service (GES) and National Council for Curriculum and Assessment (NaCCA) for teaching Basic school pupils with a method that suggests promoting the association and stereotype of Ewes to the use of juju or vodoo. Dubawa spoke to officials at the Ghana Education Service and the Director-General of the National Council for Curriculum Assessment and found the claim to be false. Read the full fact-check here

Explainers and Media Literacy Articles 

1. Dealing With the New Phase Of COVID-19 Infodemic – The Vaccine Misinformation Wave 
2. Ghana set to begin Covid-19 Vaccination Programme – Dubawa Ghana
3. The law of ‘double honourable mention’: Becoming a Minister of State in Ghana

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NaCCA has approved textbooks fostering association of Ewes with the use of juju and denigrating some tribes in Ghana

False. NaCCA has not approved the Golden English or Basic 4 textbook and some other Golden Publication books.

Full Text

Some Twitter users have been discussing an alleged text book that is said to have been approved by Ghana Education Service (GES) and National Council for Curriculum and Assessment (NaCCA) for teaching Basic school pupils.  

A portion of the book, as shown below, is said to be promoting the association and stereotype of Ewes to the use of juju.

The book, published by Golden Publications for Basic 4 English, is written by Alexander Baafi Okyere and has a stamp claiming approval from the NaCCA for use for the new syllabus.

The post has drawn the attention of many people who have called for the removal of the book from the syllabus .

The news, containing the image has been recirculated and published on some online platforms. 

Ghanaian celebrity Ayigbe Edem has called-out the book’s author, asking for the book to be revised.

“Okyere Baafi….It would be good to put respect on my people and revise your book….All narratives like this, make us deepen the crack on issues surrounding us….#Gbevunation #Gogetem.”

Some other textbooks, History of Ghana textbook 3 by Badu Nkansah Publication and History for Basic 6 by Golden publications, have also come into the limelight with many people including Abla Dzifa Gomashie, Member of Parliament for Ketu South, calling out the Ministry of Education, Ghana Education Service and the NaCCA.

“…As a proud Ewe, I would never see myself in the light you seek to portray me in with these warped and extremely insensitive descriptions. This is the height of “racist” comments meant to look down and denigrate a hardworking, friendly and affable group of people. Perhaps you have gone this far because we have tolerated this absolutely foolish condescending and totally unacceptable behaviour from some Ghanaians and now you have the effrontery and audacity to publish it. It is no more funny…”

Dubawa set out to find out if this book is a part of the approved books for the new syllabus.

Verification

According to officials at the Basic Unit of the Ghana Education Service, the textbook in question is not part of the list of recommended textbooks released by the Service.

The NaCCA on 14 May, 2020 released the first batch of recommended textbooks for Kindergarten to Basic 6. This batch listed 187 textbooks that passed assessment for use for Kindergarten to Basic 6 pupils.

A few days later, on 18 May 2020, a second batch, comprising 96 recommended textbooks were also released.

The third batch, released June 11th, 2020 also contains 202 recommended textbooks.

Dubawa assessed all three released lists and found that the book in question, Golden English for Basic 4, was not listed among the recommended books.

Mr. John Anang, Acting Director General, NaCCA, disclosed that the book in question, Golden English for Basic 4 and some others have not been approved by NaCCA. 

He went on to clarify that the textbooks that have been published are not recommended, as stated in the official letters attached to the list of textbooks, but rather, approved by NaCCA.

“Our mandate is not to recommend but to assess and approve books based on the intended curriculum to see whether it is in sync with the letter and spirit of what the curriculum intends to achieve.”

He added that once the book is not in the three batches of textbooks approved and published by NaCCA, it has not been submitted to the institution for approval.

“By our provisions and guidelines, nobody is supposed to put on their textbook or whatever that it has been approved by NaCCa. Nobody is supposed to do that. We have not even seen it. There is a similar issue with another History book which with the help of Facebook, we were able to identify them and invite them for a meeting and they came… What happened is that these people, once the new syllabus was released, commissioned writers, when they got the books, they started catching up with the September market,  forgetting that they must go through NaCCA before hitting the market.”

A press release was issued on March 6th, 2021 on the NaCCA Facebook page cautioning parents against the purchase and use of unapproved textbooks. The press release mentioned History textbook for Basic 6 pupils from the same publishers, Golden publications, being unapproved for use or distribution.

Today, March 15th, 2021, the NaCCA has published a sequel to their March 6th press release stating that the three textbooks making rounds on social media have not been approved by the institution:

• History of Ghana for Basic 6 (Golden Publications)
• History of Ghana Textbook 3 (Badu Nkansah Publications)
• Golden English Basic 4 (Golden Publications)

As NaCCA is not mandated to arrest publishers of these books which have infiltrated the market, it has cautioned them through the use of dialogue that all their materials should be brought to the institution for assessment and possible approval. 

Mr. Anang added that they have advised the publishers of the controversial textbook to apologize to Ghanaians on radio and newspapers.

Meanwhile Badu Nkansah Publication has issued an apology to the public for the ‘offensive publication’.

Claim: A photo purported to be a CNN live bulletin claims that hospitals are on lockdown as first vaccinated COVID-19 patients have started eating other patients. 

False. The photo making the claims is fabricated and has been online since at least February 2019 – before the COVID-19 pandemic and was in relation to an emergency room of a hospital that had a teenager who was shot. CNN has made no such reports of hospitals on lockdown due to COVID-19 vaccine patients eating other patients.

Full text

Following the roll out of COVID-19 vaccination by a number of countries including Ghana to help reduce the transmission of COVID-19, a photo of what appears to be a surgical ward with blood spills is circulating on social media in Ghana and elsewhere with an accompanying allegation that hospitals are on lockdown as the first vaccinated COVID-19 patients have started eating other patients. This photo is purported to be from a CNN live broadcast. 

The photo shared by a Ghanaian-based Twitter user, who humorously added that by June we will start fighting zombies, is shown below:

Verification

Through a Google Reverse Search, Dubawa uncovered that the photo was originally shared by New York times on February 14th, 2019, before the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic. The actual narrative around the photo tells the tragic shooting of a teenager who later died at the emergency department of Temple University Teaching hospital after efforts to resuscitate him failed. 

The image was hence, a depiction of the emergency room the teenager died in. 

The original image as shared by the New York Times on February 14th, 2019

Though the claimant took nothing out of the photo, it was observed that there was, however, a deliberate effort to alter the image quality so it can perfectly fit into the purported narrative.  Thus, when Dubawa analysed the claimant’s version of the photo on Forensically, results show massive noise proliferation on the image. It was deliberately filtered to be blurry and cloudy so that it can  fit into the fabricated CNN frame. 

Image 1

Image 1 shows the result of analysis carried out on the claimant’s purported image.  Assessed on the noise amplitude level of 55% and the Opacity level 0.54%, findings reveal the blurry and hazy shade of noise added to the photo as rather traced in image 2 below. 

Image 2

Image 2 shows the results of analysis carried out on the original image. Also assessed on the noise amplitude level of 55% and the Opacity level 0.54%, findings reveal a level of clarity and transparency as compared to image 1. 

A closer look at image one and two reveals the obvious differences between the two pictures. Even more, other multiple images are taken out of context; and their quality altered just to be forced into another different narrative, such as in this case, to mislead unsuspecting members of the public. 

Additionally, there is no identified report online of CNN making such claims of a hospital’s lockdown because of alleged first vaccinated COVID-19 patients starting to eat other patients. Rather, what was found, was an application that facilitated such misleading content. The application, Media Photo Frames;  Breaking News App Photo Editor, allows for users of the application to fabricate any story as breaking news to be attributed to the available media frames. 

Furthermore, the claim making rounds on Ghanaian social media space was found to have also circulated on other platforms across the world in December last year. This has consequently been debunked by several fact-checking platforms such as Times of India,  India Today, and AFP already. 

Conclusion 

The photo purporting that first vaccinated COVID-19 patients have started to eat other patients is false. The photo first circulated before the pandemic and is originally from a report in February 2019 showing an emergency department of Temple University Teaching hospital’s attempts to resuscitate a shot teenager. CNN has made no such reports of hospitals on lockdown due to COVID-19 vaccine patients eating other patients .