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On September 25, 2019, a twitter user claimed that President Nana Akufo-Addo has a ‘123-man cabinet, deputy ministers included’. The tweet also made allegations with respect to the “family ties” that exist between the President and some members of his government.

As the time this fact-check was written, the tweet was liked and retweeted more than a 1000 times. Similar and slightly more comprehensive versions have also been shared on Facebook and on Instagram. Blogs and online portals were not left out.

We decided to fact check the whole list of claims across multiple platforms…

Verification Of Claims

CLAIM 1: “In Ghana, Nana Akufo-Addo has a 123-man cabinet, deputy ministers included.”

FALSE: Ghana does not have a 123-man Cabinet as claimed. It rather has 123 ministers which includes ministers of state and their deputies and regional ministers and their deputies.

Ghana’s 1992 Constitution (Chapter 8, Article 76) requires a newly sworn in President to appoint a Cabinet to assist him/her determine government policies. It further stipulates the composition of the Cabinet – the President, the Vice President and ‘not less than 10 and not more than 19 Ministers of State.”

In line with this, the President in 2017 appointed a 19-member cabinet who are all substantive ministers of his government. None of them is a deputy minister.

So where did the claim that the President has a 123-man cabinet originate from?

It is quite likely the user confused the current government size with the Cabinet size.

If that is the case, then he is right. Ghana does have 123 ministers some (19) of whom are members of the Cabinets. The 123 includes ministers for the various ministries and their deputies, and regional ministers and their deputies.

The current 123 number is an increase from the 110 ministers (10 Regional Ministers and 10 Deputies, 40 ministers for the various ministries and 50 deputies) appointed by the President in 2017. Thirteen (13) more ministers were added in 2019 to cater for the six newly created regions, bringing the number to the current 123.

CLAIM 2: “At least half are either related to him by blood or marriage… ”

FALSE: Even if we are to assume the user was referring to the government at large (and not just the President’s cabinet), there is still no evidence to support it.

This is reminiscent of a similar allegations in time past. More often than not, many have accused the President of nepotism and cronyism; they throw around the phrase, ‘family and friends’ government’. For instance, a member of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), Abraham Amaliba, alleged that the President has 65 relatives occupying various positions in the country. This happened July 17 on Tv3’s New Day. However, he could not prove this and had to withdraw his allegations on the show.

Many other such claims have been made; however, they either held no grounds or were denied. Claims that the Chief Justice and Sophia Akufo and Attorney General Gloria Akuffo are family members of the President have also been denied; by his relative- Gabby Otchere Darko.

Nonetheless, it has been admitted that some ministers and appointees are related to the President; like the Minister for Finance- Ken Ofori Atta. Also, Works and Housing Minister- Samuel Atta Akyea is his cousin.

So back to the claim that at least half the President’s appointees are related to him by blood or marriage. 

We have already established that Ghana has a 19-member Cabinet and not 123 as claimed by the Twitter user. Out of the 19, only two have the surname the Twitter user asked us to look out for; that is, Gloria Akuffo- the Attorney General and Minister for Justice and Ken Ofori-Atta, the Finance Minister. Therefore, only two, and not half of the Cabinet ministers, may be related to the President if we are to verify this claim using the yardstick the user mentioned – the possession of a particular surname.

Alternatively, say the user meant the government size; is it true that half are related to him either by blood or marriage?

Again, using the same yardstick given us by the user, less than 10 may be related to the President. They include Ken Ofori-Atta, Minister of Finance; Samuel Atta Akyea, Minister for Works and Housing; Gloria Akuffo, Attorney General and Minister for Justice; and Kwasi Amoako Atta, Minister for Roads and Highways.

Granted, bearing of the names ‘Akufo’, ‘Addo’, ‘Ofori’ and ‘Atta’, may signal a relationship; it is still not enough evidence to back this claim. As a Twitter user pointed out, some tribes or ethnic groups in Ghana have similar names. This does not mean they are related!

CLAIM 3: “His daughter is on the Creative Arts Council board.”

TRUE: The President’s daughter is on the Creative Council Board

In 2017, the Ministry of Tourism, Arts and Culture appointed the President’s daughter– Gyankroma Akufo-Addo as Director of the Creative Arts Council.

CLAIM 4: “Ghana’s ambassador to the UAE is the father of the VP’s wife. His own son is number 2 man at a federal parastatal.”

TRUE: The father of the Second lady, Samira Bawumia, is Ghana’s ambassador to the United Arabs Emirate.

Alhaji Ahmed Ramadan is the father of the second lady, Mrs Samira Bawumia. He was appointed Ghana’s ambassador to the United Arabs Emirate (UAE) in 2017. His son, Abu Ramadan, is the Deputy Director General at the National Disaster Management Organisation (NADMO).

CLAIM 5: “The speaker of parliament is the father of the ambassador to India.”

TRUE: The speaker of Parliament is the father of Ghana’s ambassador to India

H.E. Mr. Michael Aaron N. N. Oquaye Esq (Jnr) is Ghana’s Ambassador to India with concurrent responsibility to Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and the Maldives. He is a corporate lawyer at Exusia Law Consult who has worked in Ghana and the United Kingdom. H.E. Mr. Michael Aaron N. N. Oquaye Esq (Jnr) is the son of the Speaker of Parliament, Rt. Hon. Mike Aaron Oquaye.

CLAIM: The president has closed 50 radio stations which are not aligned to his party, Twitter user claims.

INSUFFICIENT EVIDENCE: As of May this year, 44 radio stations had been shut down. This is according to information available on the website of the National Communication Authority (NCA) and in the media. However, there is insufficient evidence to suggest that they are all aligned to the opposition. Although it is a known fact in Ghana that at least 3 of the radio stations, Radio Gold, XYZ and Montie, were pro-opposition NDC; there is no available evidence to suggest that others were also pro-opposition.

FULL TEXT

On September 25, 2019, a twitter user said the President had shut down 50 radio stations that favour the opposition. This, according to the user, is the reason why the many complaints of Ghanaians have gone unheard.

VERIFICATION

Did the NCA Shutdown 50 radio stations?

The National Communications Authority (NCA) assigns, allocates and regulates the use of frequencies in the country. To verify this claim, we sent an email to the NCA to confirm the claim. We also contacted the user for their source (we are yet to receive a response from them).

While waiting for a response from the NCA and the user, DUBAWA conducted its own independent research to ascertain the veracity of the claim.

In 2017, the NCA conducted a nationwide FM spectrum audit. This was done to ascertain if authorised stations were compliant. Subsequently, on September 28, 2017, the NCA announced the closure of 34 stations for operating illegally. In a press statement, the NCA explained that the stations had failed to renew their authorisations, years after they had expired. According to the release, the actions of the NCA was in conformity with Section 13 of the Electronics Communications Act (2008), Act 775.

On May 15 this year, the NCA updated the public on the status of the enforcement exercise. In another press statement, it was revealed that 41 FM Radio Stations operating with expired authorisations (as determined by the spectrum audit) had been closed down 5 days prior. Three (3) more stations were shut down on May 13 according to media reports. This brings the number of radio stations clamped down from 2017 to date, to 44, based on the available evidence.

Are all the radio stations pro-opposition?

Some of the stations were publicly known as either supporting of, or belonging to members of the opposition. Montie FM, Radio Gold and Radio XYZ were known to be pro-opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC). Conversely, Nananom FM and Genesis FM are reportedly owned by members of the opposition- NDC, Collins Dauda and Nana Adjei Ampofo respectively.

However, there is no available evidence to determine the status of the other stations.

CONCLUSION 

Since 2017, following an FM spectrum audit, the NCA shutdown 44 radio stations. Granted some of the stations are publicly known to be pro-opposition; there is insufficient evidence to suggest that they were all pro-opposition. It goes without saying that this article will be updated upon the emergence of new intel.

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FULL TEXT: 

On July 10 2019, Vice President Dr Mahamudu Bawumia in a  tweet via his official Twitter account enumerated and juxtaposed 22 major achievements of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) two and a half years into their administration contrasted against the performance of the National Democratic Congress (NDC).

Diverse reactions met Dr Bawumia’s tweet. Some Ghanaians have applauded Dr Bawumia and the government for these achievements while others were taken aback by the comparison. The latter criticised the vice president for being insensitive to the plight of Ghanaians, which is not reflective of the achievements he touted. The tweet in question, had over 4.2K likes, 1.2K comments and 755 retweets, as of the time this fact-check was conducted.

In an effort to ascertain the veracity of the claims, DUBAWA  fact-checked some of them.

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Verification of Claims:

CLAIM 1: NDC cancelled teacher training allowances; NPP restored it

TRUE: The NPP government restored the Teacher Training Allowance which had been scrapped by the erstwhile NDC government in 2014

The teachers allowance policy was introduced by Ghana’s first President, Dr Kwame Nkrumah, with the aim of attracting people to the profession. It was subsequently repealed in the 1970s by the Busia administration, but was reintroduced again in the 1980s following a mass exodus of teachers to Nigeria in search of greener pastures.

The NDC government under President John Dramani Mahama in 2014 cancelled the policy, amidst opposition from trainees and members of the NPP, and directed that trainees gain access to the Students Loan Trust Fund which is at the disposal of tertiary students in the country. A feeding grant policy was also introduced to fill the gap created by the repeal of the policy. According to the government, the need to increase access and quality were the rationale for the cancellation of the allowance.

In fulfilment of its campaign promise to bring back the allowance when voted into power, the government, in 2017 announced the restoration of training allowances for teachers in its maiden budget. A ceremony was subsequently held at the Accra College of Education to mark the restoration of the allowance. This was in spite of opposition from a section of the public who argued that the policy has outlived its usefulness.

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CLAIM 2: NDC cancelled nursing training allowances; NPP restored it

TRUE: The restoration of the allowance was announced in the 2017 Budget Statement and was marked by a ceremony in Sunyani.

Like the teacher training allowance, Dr Bawumia also claimed the NPP had restored Nurses Training allowance while the NDC had cancelled the policy. 

This claim is true as information available shows that the previous government had indeed, in 2014, scrapped the policy. This move was criticised by the then opposition NPP which promised to restore the allowance when voted into power.

Consequently, the NPP government announced the restoration of the nurses’ training allowances in the 2017 Budget Statement and Economic Policy.  A ceremony was held in Sunyani to mark its restoration. Funds were later released to the Ministry of Health for the payment of the allowance.

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CLAIM 3: NPP brought about the reduction in 17 taxes with some being abolished; in the wake of NDC’s tax increment.

TRUE: While the NDC government had increased taxes when it was in power, the NPP has abolished or reduced 17 taxes in its two and a half years in power. However, the NPP government has also introduced new taxes and increased some taxes.

To verify this claim, we relied mostly on the Budget and Economic Statements of 2009-2016 for the NDC and 2017-2019 for the NPP.

Information available in the Economic and Financial Policies For the Medium Term Report and the 2015 Budget Statement, shows that the NDC government had indeed introduced and increased taxes during its tenure in power. The Minister for Finance at the time, Mr Seth Tekper, said the imposition of the new taxes was necessary to generate more revenue for the country and to consolidate government finances by reducing the fiscal deficit. The following are some of the taxes that were introduced and increased during the NDC’s tenure in power:

1.       The imposition of National Fiscal Stabilisation Levy of 5 per cent

2.      The imposition of Special Import Levy of 1 and 2 per cent on some imported goods

3.      Re-imposition of import duty of 20 per cent and VAT on imported mobile handsets

4.      VAT was increased from 12.5 percent to 15 per cent

5.      The imposition of Vat on fee-based financial services

6.      The imposition of a  5 per cent flat VAT on real estates

7.     The imposition of Special Petroleum Tax of 17.5 per cent

8.    An increase in the withholding tax on Directors’ remuneration from 10 per cent to 20 per cent

9.      An increase in withholding tax on rent on commercial properties from 8 to 15 per cent

10.  An increase in the withholding tax on management and technical services from 15 per cent to 20 per cent

11.    An increase in the corporate income tax rate of free zones companies selling on the local market from 8 to 20 per cent

The NPP, while in opposition, criticised the NDC government for burdening Ghanaians with taxes it tagged ‘nuisance taxes’ and promised to cancel them when voted into power.

In line with this promise, the Minister of Finance, Mr Ken Ofori-Atta announced the abolishment and reduction of some taxes in the government’s maiden budget after the party won the 2016 general elections. They include:

1.       Abolishment of the 1 per cent Special Import Levy;

2.      Abolishment of the 17.5 per cent VAT/NHIL on financial services;

3.    Abolishment of the 17.5 per cent VAT/NHIL on selected imported medicines, that are    not produced locally;

4.      Abolishment of the 17.5 per cent VAT/NHIL on domestic airline tickets;

5.      Abolishment of the 5 per cent VAT/NHIL on Real Estate sales;

6.      Abolishment of excise duty on petroleum;

7.       Reduction of special petroleum tax rate from 17.5 per cent to 15 per cent;

8.      Abolishment of duty on the importation of spare parts;

9.      Abolishment of levies imposed on ‘kayayei’ by local authorities;

10.   Abolishment of levies imposed on religious institutions by local authorities;

11.    Exemption from taxation, the gains from the realization of securities listed on the Ghana Stock Exchange or publicly held securities approved by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC);

12.   Reduction of the National Electrification Scheme Levy from five per cent to three per cent;

13.   Reduction of the Public Lighting Levy from five per cent to two per cent;

14.   Replacement of the 17.5 VAT/NHIL rate with a flat rate of three per cent for traders; and

15. Implementation of tax credits and other incentives for businesses that hire young graduates.

Other tax reliefs and exemptions, including the Special Petroleum Tax, were announced in the 2018 budget statement.

However, it is worth noting that the NPP government has also introduced and increased some taxes. The Luxury Vehicle Levy was introduced in 2018 but had to be withdrawn following widespread public outcry. The government also introduced an additional Personal Income Tax band of 35 per cent on monthly incomes in excess of GHc10,000 band and increased the Communication Service Tax.

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CLAIM 4: Under the NPP, inflation is currently at 9.5%, as opposed to the 15.4% in 2016 (under the NDC).

MOSTLY TRUE: Inflation in 2016 was 15.4 per cent. However, in July when Dr Bawumia made the claim that inflation was ‘currently’ 9.5 per cent, data from the Ghana Statistical Service shows it was actually 9.1 per cent.

The time frame, 2009 – 2016 corresponding to when the NDC was in power will be used for the verification of this claim. We will use each year’s December inflation figure as the last inflation measured during a government’s tenure in office. Also, bearing in mind that Dr Bawumia was citing the current inflation figure when he tweeted the claim, we assume he was referring to inflation figure for the month of June as that of July had not been released. Therefore we will depend on inflation for the month of June to verify the current situation as at July 10.

Data for this fact-check was derived from the  Consumer Price Index (CPI) National Time Series, March 1963 – December 2011 and the Consumer Price Index Bulletins which are produced by the Ghana Statistical Service.

According to the December 2016 Consumer Price Index Bulletin, inflation in December 2016 was 15.4 per cent.

It’s worthy of note that in 2009 when the NDC came into power, inflation was 18.1 per cent. During the party’s time in power, it fluctuated. Inflation was 16 per cent in 2009. This figure declined to 8.6 per cent in 2010 and remained the same at the end of 2011. In 2012, inflation shot up to 8.8 per cent from where it continued to rise to 13.5 per cent in 2013, 17 per cent in 2014, 17.7 per cent in 2015 and finally declined to 15.4 percent in December 2016.

Under the current NPP administration, inflation appears to be in a state of flux. Inflation  fell from 15.4 per cent in 2016 to 11.8 percent in 2017 and declined further to 9.4 per cent in 2018. 

In 2019, inflation started at 9 per cent, increased to 9.2 per cent in February, then to 9.3 per cent in March. Inflation for the months of April and June was 9.5 per cent and 9.1 per cent respectively. 

On July 10, when Dr Bawumia made the claim, inflation for the country stood at 9.1 percent, according to the Ghana Statistical Service. 

CLAIM 5: Bank lending rate in 2016 averaged 32%; bank lending rate in 2019 averaged 27%.

TRUE: The Summary of Economic and Financial Data of May 2017 and June 2019 show that bank lending rate for 2016 was 31.7 per cent and 27.68 per cent in June 2019.

The Vice President also claimed that while the average bank lending rate under his government’s administration is currently 27 per cent, it was 32 per cent during the NDC’s tenure in power. To verify this, we relied on data from the Bank of Ghana.

The Bank of Ghana’s Summary of Economic and Financial Data of May 2017 shows that the average lending rate for December 2016 was 31.7 percent.

The July 2019 edition of the report also showed that the latest average lending rate, which was measured in June this year, was 27.68 percent.

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CLAIM 6: Share of DACF for persons with disabilities was 2%; share of DACF for persons with disabilities increased by 50%.

TRUE: the DACF has been increased by 50 per cent by the NPP government from the two per cent that was allocated in 2016.

Article 252(1) of the 1992 Constitution, stipulates the establishment of a District Assemblies Common Fund (DACF) to which Parliament is to make provision for the allocation of not less than five per cent (5%) of national revenues. Out this amount, people with disabilities (PWDs), are to be allotted a quota to help reduce poverty among the group.

We found that two per cent of the DACF was previously allocated to Persons. The NPP government announced a 50 per cent increment, that is, from two to three per cent, in the DACF for PWDs in its Budget Statement and Economic Policy. In conformity with this, three percent of the DACF was allocated to PWDs in 2017 District Assemblies Common Fund Formula.

Thursday, October 18th would forever remain ingrained in the memory of Alhaja Kajola Sikirat Abdulganiy… 

It is not lost on anyone the hustle and grind we go through to make ends meet daily. So it really is a breath of fresh air when you see a self-made entrepreneur, what is more, a small business that is thriving. Such was the case of Alhaja Kajola Sikirat Abdulganiy, a successful restaurant owner. Situated in Agbooba suburb of Ilorin, Kwara State, Nigeria; the restaurant was the talk of the town. Taking unique advantage of the business location, it was the one-stop destination for local delicacies during business hours. This was of course until the events that followed Thursday October 18, 2018.

At the 1100-hour, the winds of disinformation threatened to bring down the once promising business empire like a pack of cards. The display of rage and aggression displayed by the crowd was akin to the Salem Witch Trials. The people were resolute, their mission was clear. The intent, to burn down the restaurant. And on what account? Apparently “alleged rituals involving human body parts was discovered in the restaurant”. Their rationale: businesses of such magnitude and patronage must involve ritual practices. Hence, it must go down!

A Kwara based online platform, OrientMag reported the story. It would seem the magnitude of the uproar was predicated on recent events in the city of Ilorin. The police had just arrested and paraded some men who were caught with 11 human skulls. The stage was set. A rumour here, a gossip there. And, there you have your fuel and fire. So it follows, her restaurant was caught in the crosshairs.

And how do you control such a mammoth mob fuelled by bias and misinformation? Law enforcement had a hectic time doing just that. In an attempt to pacify the crowd, every nook and cranny of the restaurant was searched, yet nothing incriminating was found. But the damage had already been done. Hundreds of customers had heard about the incident and avowed never to set foot in her restaurant.

Alhaja Kajola, our once intrepid business owner was left with nothing but her fears and concerns springing from a box, Pandora’s box once opened never to be shut. 

What more could go wrong, right? Well, as if to conclude unfinished business, fake news peddlers went on air for backup. They enlisted popular radio presenter, Soliu Olohun Lugo at the state-owned Harmony FM, to corroborate their claims, Iyao explains… 

And like a sequel to the tragic film titled Thursday, the 18th, the crowd assembled. You see, going on air was the final nail in the coffin needed to bury her business. So, the next day a huge crowd gathered in front of her shop shouting the very same threats. I mean, they had their proof now, right? Social media ran wild with the news as different versions of the story emerged. And yes, our boys in blue, our police, seemed yet again helpless. Who wouldn’t be, because really, there is no handbook for dealing with scores of misinformed people acting on sheer ignorance. 

Our protagonist, Iya Alao attempts to set the record straight while speaking to local newspaper, National Pilot. 

“I was shocked and had to rush down to Ilorin. I instructed my workers to call the police to come to their rescue…” she exclaimed.

It was meant to be routine. She had probably done this a hundred times. It was simple inventory restocking, but not that day. Iya Alao’s purchase of yam from Odo-Oba, Oyo State was interrupted when she received a phone call regarding the outrageous claims. 

It would take another two months for the police to conclude their investigations. But really, the damage was done. Two people were charged and convicted on three counts charge of criminal conspiracy, inciting disturbance and defamation of character… and at this point, what good was that for our once vibrant small business owner?

On visiting Iya, ten months after this incident, what our team witnessed was too gloomy to depict. The sharp contrast between the once praised establishment and the slithery shadow of what we experienced was surreal. We counted a little over five customers in the hour we were present.

Nonetheless, she persists. Nothing seems to matter to Iya Alao than to see customers patronizing her business again. 

This single real-life incident underscores the impact of fake news, with the small business account serving as a microcosm of a large scale problem. If this happened on such a small scale, imagine it’s impact on a larger scale business or a federal authority. It may seem inconsequential on the surface posing no tangible threat to the average man. However, if left unchecked, the impact of disinformation is far reaching; leaving chaos and confusion in its wake. 

So the question remains, how many more Iyas must suffer before we see the problem? 

CLAIM 1: In the 21st century, over 20 percent of Ghanaians live without potable water and are compelled to share very dirty and infested water with animals

VERDICT: Based on the available data from the MTEF for 2018-2021, the claim is TRUE; over 20 percent of the population lacks access to potable water.

CLAIM 2: About 16 percent of our people are without access to electricity

VERDICT: Considering the available data, the NDC is right in its claim that about 16 percent of Ghanaians lack access to electricity.

CLAIM 3: Close to 3m Ghanaians live below the poverty line

VERDICT: Based on this evidence from the Ghana Statistical Service, it is safe to say that close to three million Ghanaians live below the poverty line

FULL TEXT:

The National Democratic Congress (NDC), waded into the public debate on the proposed construction of a new parliamentary chamber for Members of Parliament with a press statement. The construction of the chamber, which has since been dropped following widespread public condemnation, was estimated to cost taxpayers $200m. 

Titled “Statement by the National Democratic Congress on Proposed $200 Million Parliamentary Chamber,” three main claims concerning the current state of the country, were made by the party for which reasons they argued that the construction of a new chamber is a misplaced priority. But how true are these claims?

The Deputy General Secretary of the NDC, Mr Peter Boamah Otukunor, when contacted to ascertain the party’s source of information on these claims directed DUBAWA to the 2017 and 2018 National Budget Statements.

Verification of Claims:

CLAIM 1: In the 21st century, over 20 percent of Ghanaians live without potable water and are compelled to share very dirty and infested water with animals

VERDICT: TRUE; over 20 percent of the population lacks access to potable water.

Data on access to potable water in the country was found in the Mid Term Expenditure Framework (MTEF) for 2018-2021 Programme Based Estimate for the Ministry of Sanitation and Water Resources. According to the statistics, 78% of the national population have access to potable water services. Access is however not evenly distributed as more people in urban areas (80%) have access to safe drinking water than residents of rural communities (66%).

The United States Agency for  International Development (USAID) also reports that 80 percent of Ghanaians have access to improved water sources

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CLAIM 2: About 16 percent of our people are without access to electricity

VERDICT: TRUE, the NDC is right in its claim that about 16 percent of Ghanaians lack access to electricity.

According to the 2019 Budget Statement and Economic Policy, national access to electricity is currently 84.3 percent, an increase from the 83.62 percent access rate of 2017.

Information on the website of the Ministry for Energy also indicates that 83.24 percent of the population has access to electricity. This is slightly more than the 83 percent of access rate reported by the USAID in a post that was last updated on November 8, 2018.

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CLAIM 3: Close to 3m Ghanaians live below the poverty line

VERDICT: TRUE, close to three million Ghanaians live below the poverty line

Living below the poverty line, which is also referred to as living in extreme poverty or the lower poverty line, is measured differently by states and organisations. The international standard for measuring extreme poverty is the possession of less than $1 a day. For the World Bank, individuals or households who are unable to afford $1.90 per day live in extreme poverty.

In Ghana, people who cannot afford to spend Gh¢2.17 per day on food are considered to be living below the poverty line. The total expenditure per adult per year of these individuals or households, who are unable to meet their minimum nutrition requirements, falls below Gh¢792.05.

To verify this (as with the others), we checked the 2017 and 2018 National Budget Statements as recommended by Mr Peter Boamah Otukunor. Although the information was not found there, a search on the Ghana Statistical Service actually aligns with the figures he quoted. 

According to the report on the website, 2.4 million people (8.2%) live below the poverty line. Extreme poverty is a rural phenomenon, with about 2.2 million persons living in extreme poverty in rural areas.

A picture, they say is worth more than a thousand words but in this digital age, it could also tell you a thousand lies and get spread across the net in the twinkle of an eye.

The severity of this and its implications cannot be over-emphasized, especially with respect to fake news. One of such occasions is the case of “Buhari of Nigeria vs Jubril of Sudan”, where even credible media houses in Nigeria became torn in the saga with different stories and articles.

Social media was not even at peace with the incessant picture comparisons being made regarding the President. At some point, a picture of Muhammad Bello commissioning the Abuja Rail line as the Minister of FCT was shared to suggest him as Jubril of Sudan.

Amid the tree-breaking wind, President Buhari refuted the popular claim that he was dead and replaced by an impostor while addressing some Nigerians in diaspora. It would be naïve to suggest or think that the President’s vehement denial of the claim would be enough to quench the wildfire. This is because there are still hundreds of pictures out there, tainting the veracity of the claim or at the very least, clouding sound judgment. Hence, the need arises for news consumers to be equipped with knowledge of how to verify whatever is being pushed out. 

Little do people know that you can verify the authenticity or search for the source of images just like we do with words. Your search engine does more than just look up words but also searches images as well.

By “Image Search”, I’m referring to more than just the related images that are called up from a word search, but the ability to know the origin of an image and find similar images. This is called Reverse Image Search which is a major tool for Dubawa, used during the 2019 election and in several other fact checks. 

How to Conduct a Reverse Image Search:

Google, Bing and Yandex are popular and easy-to-go search engines offering reverse image search.

Step by Step on Google (Desktop):

1. Go to images.google.com
2. Click on the Camera Icon
3. You either paste the URL of the image you’ve come across online, drag from another tab or upload the picture from your desktop

On Google (Mobile):

Eric Griffith, a tech reviewer said google reverse image search is a breeze on desktop but the same cannot be said for mobile because the reverse image search is built on a limited basis on mobile.

When images.google.com is entered on your mobile browser, it does not bring out the camera option but to get that you’ll have to enable the desktop view on your mobile device.

In chrome, check out for where you can find the three-dot menu (at the top for Android and bottom for IOS), Request the Desktop site. This will load desktop version and the camera option so you can upload the image from your gallery but some other browser like safari will give the complete desktop options.

However, there is a shortcut for both mobile and desktop provided you are using chrome browser. On desktop, right-click on the image you found online; while on mobile, you just must hold your finger on the image until a pop-up menu appears and click on “Search Google for this image”. 

 

Step by Step on Bing:

Bing, the Microsoft Search Engine might not be the first option we employ in our daily transaction for internet usage but when it comes to reverse image search, it makes it easier than google.

Go to bing.com the camera icon is already waiting.

Click on the Camera Icon and make use of the three available options

The same goes for Bing on Mobile especially with the latest version of its app where you choose the way you want to do the search either by picture, word or voice. The Camera Icon accesses the Gallery and make it easy to snap in case the image is in a hard format.

On Yandex:

On the desktop, you will have to go to yandex.com/images to use the camera icon while the mobile looks almost exactly like Bing making it easy to search for images directly from the browser. The image search here comes with four choices:

• recognise text; 
• identify make/model; 
• find a product; 
• find similar images.

 

Third- Partner App for Reverse Image search:

Tineye, a leading application both on mobile and desktop has crawled over 34 billion images to date. It works on the desktop like other reverse image search engines with the three options of “drag and drop”, “upload” or “URL”. On mobile, instead of the camera icon, it uses the upload icon which is limited to 150 uses in a week… any more than that requires the paid version, which starts at $200 for 5,000 searches over two years.

Other mobile apps that can be used to verify images include Veracity (IOS only) and Search by Image (Android only) draws its result from Google, Tineye and Yandex.

However, the limitation to all these apps is that they can’t detect any image that hasn’t been on the webspace. Hence, the difficulty in deciphering images on WhatsApp because of the end-end encryption of the app. Also, screenshots of Twitter and Facebook images might be difficult because the meta-data (the background links/information/history) will be broken. 

You’re welcome!

CLAIM: “Execute and barbecue any cattle seen on the streets of Ghana. And I command the immediate arrest of any herdsman seen parading cattle on the streets of Ghana… This is not Nigeria: Ghana President: Akufo-Ado.”

CONCLUSION: FALSE

EVIDENCE: Government officials at the Communication Directorate at Presidency and Ministry of Information have denied the claim saying the President has and will never say that anywhere

FULL TEXT:

An image which claimed that President Nana Akufo-Addo had mocked Nigeria has been making rounds on social media. Again. The image, based on which stories were published by a number of websites and blogs, started circulating as far back as January 2018.  

It received over 3800 likes, 2600 comments and 44,000 shares after it was posted on the Facebook page of View Africa24 News on January 20, 2018.

The claim was also tweeted by Femi Fani-Kayode, a lawyer and former Nigerian Minister of Aviation, on January 20, 2018 and generated 3,306 retweets, 3,568 likes and 422 comments.

Former Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan is also reported to have repeated it at an inauguration ceremony in Ekiti State in May 2018.

The image reads:

“Execute and barbecue any cattle seen on the streets of Ghana. And I command the immediate arrest of any herdsman seen parading cattle on the streets of Ghana… This is not Nigeria: Ghana President: Akufo-Ado.”

VERIFICATION OF CLAIM:

To verify this, DUBAWA reached out to the Ministry of Information and the Communication Directorate at the Presidency. The Deputy Minister for Information, Pius Hadzide, in a telephone interview, refuted the claim.

“The president has never said that anywhere and will never say that,” Hadzide said. “The President thinks very highly of the good people of Nigeria and President Buhari. He has a good relationship with him.”

It was again denied by the Director for Communication at the Presidency, Eugene Arhin, when he was contacted via WhatsApp to ascertain its veracity.

“It’s fake. The President never said anything like that,” he said.

Ghana’s High Commissioner to Nigeria, Alhaji Rashid Bawa, had also denounced the claim in a report by Sahara Reporters, saying the remark had never been made by the President. 

CONCLUSION:

President Nana Akuffo Addo ridiculed Nigeria, according to an image which was widely circulated in 2018 and resurfaced this year.

Our checks with the Ministry of Information and the Communication Directorate at the Presidency indicate the President never made the claim.

CLAIM: I Will Use My Own Money To Build The New $200m Parliamentary Chamber – Nana Addo

CONCLUSION: FALSE

EVIDENCE: Newsmunews.com, the site responsible for the claim, in its ‘About Us’ section says it is a ‘satire web publication’. As such, all news articles originating from the site are ‘presumably fake news’ and should not be believed or reposted!

FULL STORY:

President Akufo-Addo has said he will pay for the construction of the proposed Parliamentary Chamber from his own pocket. This is according to an article by a Newsmunews.com.

The President is reported to have said, “Yes! I will sponsor it all. We will not use the tax payers money.”

This comes on the back of widespread condemnation from a section of the public, particularly Twitter users, following information that Parliament intends to build a 450-capacity chamber which is likely to cost the Ghanaian taxpayer $200m. 

DUBAWA did a quick check of the website’s ‘About Us’ section and found this disclaimer:

NEWSMUNEWS is a news, sports and political satire web publication, which may or may not use real names, often in semi-real or mostly fictitious ways. All news articles contained within NEWSMUNEWS are fiction, and presumably fake news.

It is very obvious then that the information is false and must not be relied on by the public.

Members of the public are urged to be cautious of their source of information.  

CLAIM: “US is now visa-free for Ghanaians without criminal records: stay of no more than 30 days allowed.”

CONCLUSION: TOTALLY FALSE

EVIDENCE: The claim has been debunked by the U.S. Embassy in Ghana in a tweet. Also, Ghana is not on the U.S. State Department’s Visa Waiver Program list.

FULL STORY:

A story published on a website called News@7 on April 3, 2019, has generated some excitement among travel hopefuls. With the headline “BREAKING NEWS: U.S is now Visa-free for Ghanaians without criminal records; stay of no more than 30 days allowed”, the story claims that “holders of Ghanaian passport without criminal records are entitled to visit the U.S. without visas for a period of 30 days only.”

It cited a “Satirist Attachee at the embassy,” a portfolio which sounds dubious, as saying the only documents Ghanaians need to travel to the United States (U.S.) are a valid passport and police clearance certificate.

The story was sourced almost verbatim by other online platforms who missed the caution on the “disclaimer and who we are” section of News @ 7 that it is a “satirical website’ which should not be relied on for news unless otherwise indicated.

It has received 964 retweets, 991 likes and 136 comments on Twitter with some users urging their respective countries to emulate Ghana in order to enjoy the same privilege. The interest generated by the story is understandable considering the number of would-be travellers who are refused visas every day across Africa.

Unfortunately, the United States Embassy in Ghana in a tweet has debunked the story. It further directed persons seeking to travel to the U.S. to visit their website for accurate and up-to-date information about US visas.

This is not the first time such news is being circulated. In 2017, the US Embassy in a tweet refuted reports of visa policy change for Ghanaians following claims on some websites that President Donald Trump had signed an executive order allowing Ghanaians to travel to the U.S without visas.

WHO IS ELIGIBLE FOR A VISA-FREE US ENTRY?

The U.S. Department of State lists countries whose citizens can travel to the U.S. without visas under the Visa Waiver Program (VWP) on its website. Under the program, citizens from 38 countries can travel to the U.S. for not more than 90 days without a visa if they meet certain requirements. Ghana is NOT on the list.  A country must meet the visa refusal rate (that is how often the U.S. refuses a visa request) of less than 3 per cent among other requirements to qualify. This may however not happen anytime soon for Ghana considering its current visa refusal rate of 49.35 per cent, an improvement on a refusal rate of 65.7 per cent in 2016.

CONCLUSION:

News @ 7, a “satirical website” reported that Ghanaians without criminal records could travel to the U.S. without a visa. The story was widely circulated with other websites sourcing it almost verbatim. The U.S. Embassy in Ghana has denied the report and has directed persons aspiring to travel to its website for accurate information. Also, Ghana is not on the U.S. State Department’s Visa Waiver Program list!