Introduction

A quarterly International Monetary Fund (IMF) report has revealed that as of July 31, 2023, Ghana ranks as the highest indebted country in Africa to the IMF.

With an outstanding IMF loan of $2.227 billion, the West African nation has the top spot as the continent’s largest indebted country to the financial agency. Page 40 of the Quarterly Report on IMF Finances for the Quarter Ended July 31, 2023 details this.

Ghana and the IMF relationship

Ghana has enjoyed a special relationship with the Bretton Wood institution since 1966 after the overthrow of President Kwame Nkrumah. The government led by the National Liberation Council (NLC) secured the country’s first ever loan agreement with the IMF in the sum of Special Drawing Rights (SDR) 36, 400.

The Special Drawing Right (SDR) is an international interest-bearing reserve asset created by the IMF to supplement its member countries’ official reserves. The value of the SDR is based on a basket of five countries – the Chinese renminbi, the euro, the Japanese yen, the British pound, and the US dollar.

Page 21 of the Quarterly Report on IMF Finances for the Quarter Ended July 31, 2023 shows that the exchange rate as of July 31, 2023, SDR 1 is equal to $1.34294.

The NLC, composed of four army officers and four police officers, assumed executive power in the first independent sub-Saharan African country.

From 1966 to 2023, the West African country has benefited from 17 IMF programs between the 57 years. .

The table below shows the list of approved IMF facilities for Ghana.

Ghana’s rising public debt

Data from the Bank of Ghana shows that Ghana’s public debt, excluding loans of state-owned enterprises, has dropped to GHS 434.6 billion ($40.4 billion) from GHS 575.7 billion cedis in December 2022. It further reveals that the drop represented over GHS 141 billion reduction of the country’s public debt stock, as seen on page 14 of the Summary of Economic and Financial Data for May 2023.

Explaining the factors responsible for the drop in Ghana’s public debt, the Governor of the Bank of Ghana, Dr Ernest Addison said the resurgence of the cedi against the dollar was crucial to the reduction.

Dr. Addison is reported to have stated at the 112th Monetary Policy Committee Press Conference held on May 22, 2023 that “Largely due to the exchange rate appreciation that we saw. You all know what happened at the end of last year [2022]. The very large depreciation of the Cedis was corrected somewhat in the latter part of the year, that helps in terms of the Cedi value of the debt.”

“It has to do with the issue of debt sustainability at the very heart of debt sustainability and the composition of our debts.

So, when half of your total debt stock is dominated in foreign exchange, a slight movement in your exchange rate will, and the sensitivity of your debt to exchange rate movement becomes paramount in the sustainability of that debt,” Ghana’s Central Bank boss added.

The politics of IMF bailout in Ghana

Discussions about an IMF bailout in Ghana have often been met with public denials, particularly by the political class.

Reports (here, here, and here) have shown that no Ghanaian government has publicly admitted going to the IMF for the country’s economic recovery until things got worse.

Some social commentators believe the reason for this development is that a public admission of an IMF support is seen as a sign of poor management of the country’s economy by the government of the day.

Once seen as a shining example of economic strength in the sub-Saharan region, Ghana has been struggling with high inflation since 2014, when the Cedi fell by 40% against the US dollar.

BBC reported that the country’s cedi became the world’s worst-performing currency.

Former President John Dramani Mahama denied claims that his government was going to the IMF for support. 

“I wish to take this opportunity to state with great emphasis that as President, I have not taken any decision to enter our country into an IMF programme; what we are concentrating on is the preparation of a home-grown strategy of fiscal consolidation,” Mahama said in May 2014.

“It is a tragedy of our very polluted and extremely partisan political environment that such a simple misunderstanding of the relevance of this document should become the basis of a major political player [NPP] to stay away from this important forum,” Mahama added.

However, four months later, reports (here, here, and here) showed that Ghana went to the IMF to seek a bailout to strengthen the West African nation’s currency.

Similarly, other reports (here, here, here, and here) showed that Akufo-Addo’s government denied returning to the IMF for a financial bailout at a time the country’s economy was getting worse by the day.

Ghana’s Finance Minister, Ken Ofori-Atta said in Feb. 2022, the country will not go for a bailout from the IMF, stating that “it is not in [our] plans.”

“We are a proud nation…I can say, we are not going to the IMF. Whatever we do, we are not…

So, let’s think of who we are as strong, proud people, the shining star of Africa, and we have the capacity to do whatever we want to do if we speak one language and ensure that we share the burden in the issues ahead,” the finance minister said.

Also, the Deputy Finance Minister, Dr John Ampontuah Kumah stated that the West African country will not seek any form of support from the global financial agency.

“The NPP [governing New Patriotic Party] government will not go to the IMF as long as we are in charge of the economy of Ghana, we will never go to the IMF,” he said.

However, with rising public debts and the cedi depreciating sharply against many currencies in the world, reports (here, here, here, and here) indicate that Akufo-Addo went to the IMF for support.

The big announcement by the IMF in 2022

The IMF Executive Board on May 17, 2023, announced its approval of a 36-month arrangement under the Extended Credit Facility (ECF) worth SDR 2.242 billion, equivalent to $3 billion, to Ghana.

“This decision will enable an immediate disbursement equivalent to SDR 452.4 million (about $600 million),” the financial agency said.

The IMF chief, Kristalina Georgieva congratulated Ghana in a publicised video.

“Congratulations to Ghana for a strong program of reforms to revitalize growth and reduce the country’s debt burden. I’m very pleased that the IMF Board has approved… a three-year, $3billion support for this program. We are proud to be partners with Ghana in addressing the difficult economic and financial conditions the country is facing,” she said in the video. 

On May 19, 2023, Ken Ofori-Atta confirmed the receipt of the first $600 million tranche of the $3 billion extended credit facility from the IMF.

The race to the top of IMF indebted list

IMF reports from 2022 to July 31, 2023, showed Ghana has continued to occupy the top spot as the top-most  African country indebted to the international financial body.

See page 41 of the October 31, 2022 report here and page 40 of the July 31, 2023 report here.

IMF data has shown that as of July 31, 2023, Ghana’s outstanding loan to the international body represents 10% of the total loan owed by African countries.

However, the IMF data revealed that the West African nation has repaid SDR 8 million, equivalent to $10.55 million of its outstanding loan to the IMF, the IMF data has revealed.

Directly following Ghana as the largest indebted countries in Africa are Democratic Republic of Congo, Kenya, Uganda, and Sudan occupying the 2nd, 3rd, 4th, and the 5th positions respectively. 

The rest of Africa is indebted to the IMF to the tune of SDR 11.32 billion, the report has revealed.

Conclusion:

Ghana currently tops Africa as the largest indebted country to the IMF as revealed by the international body’s July 31, 2023 report.

However, with the West African country determined to honour its commitments to the IMF under the three-year Extended Credit Facility (ECF), there are chances it might drop as the largest indebted African nation in the coming months.

The next quarterly financial report of the international financial agency is expected to be published on October 31, 2023.

Claim: Ghana Police Service has said it did not arrest a BBC journalist, Thomas Naadi, and his cameraman when the service rounded up some protesters in Accra on September 21, 2023.

Verdict: False. The BBC journalist, Thomas Naadi, confirmed that he was among the journalists arrested by the police. Also, the Ghana Journalists Association has said its investigations revealed correspondents from the BBC, AFP, and AP were among some journalists arrested despite “properly” identifying themselves.

FULL TEXT

The first day of the three-day protest organised by a Ghanaian pro-democracy group known as Democracy Hub turned chaotic when the police rounded up 49 of the protesters for “unlawful assembly.” Several news reports (here, here, here, and here) provided details of the chaos.

The group’s protests are aimed at the government to address the country’s worsening economic situation which has resulted in rising unemployment, corruption, and high inflation.

Once described as the world’s fastest-growing economy (here, here, and here) in 2019 by the World Bank, Ghana is now dealing with an economic crisis after doubling its economic growth. According to the World Bank, a combination of domestic imbalances and external shocks in 2022 are responsible for Ghana’s macroeconomic challenges.

“The year was marked by currency depreciation, rising inflation, and tumbling investor confidence… Economic growth is projected to slow down to 1.5% and remain depressed in 2024 at 2.8%,” the global financial agency said.

The group has also accused the government of running down the country’s economy “leaving struggling Ghanaians to their fate.”

Barely two days to the start of the demonstration, the Ghana Police Service served the group an application it had filed in court seeking to stop the demonstration.

“As we wait for the court to determine the matter, we wish to urge the public to take note and disregard any calls from any individuals or groups encouraging them to assemble for a demonstration at the Jubilee House,” the Police stated.

However, the group proceeded with the demonstration, which, according to news reports, (here, here, here, and here) led to the arrest of 49 people, including a BBC journalist, Thomas Naadi and his cameraman. They were reported to be arrested on charges of ‘unlawful assembly’.

However, the police have denied arresting the BBC journalist and his cameraman in a statement published on September 21, 2023.

Part of the report reads,

“The attention of the police has been drawn to an erroneous report by a section of the media that a BBC reporter and his cameraman have been arrested. The Police would like to put on record that the report is false and should be disregarded.”

The report was also published by other media reports here, here, here, and here.

DUBAWA decided to probe the claim by the Ghana police.

Verification:

The BBC journalist, Thomas Naadi, confirmed he was among some journalists arrested by the police on the first day of the protest.

“My cameraman and I were picked at this nearby fuel station for covering the event,” Mr Naadi said.

He later told the BBC Focus on Africa on September 22, 2023, that he was released together with his colleague after the arrest.

“The 49 protesters who were arrested have now been released after being charged with unlawful assembly and some journalists were also arrested and I was among those arrested,” he said.

Furthermore, this video (from the 1:45 minute) shows the BBC reporter being conveyed in the bucket of a police pick.

DUBAWA also asked if he had identified himself as a journalist to the police on the day of his arrest, Mr Naadi replied that “I showed them my BBC ID card.”

“We clearly identified ourselves as journalists. We were arrested for covering the protests,” the BBC reporter added.

Also, the Ghana Journalists Association (GJA) issued a press statement on September 22, 2023, that their investigations into the incident revealed some correspondents of foreign media organisations such as the BBC, AFP, and AP were among some journalists arrested despite “properly” identifying themselves.

A number of media organisations (here, here, and here) also reported the GJA statement. 

“The GJA is utterly disappointed in the Police for lowering the bar of professionalism by arresting and maltreating journalists who did not breach any law,” the Association said.

Some media organisations (here, here, and here) in Ghana also reported about the arrest of the BBC reporter and his cameraman.

Accra-based radio station Citi FM reported that “a BBC reporter, Thomas Naadi and his cameraman were arrested as part of the protesters of the #OccupyJulorbiHouse demonstration Thursday (September 21, 2023) morning.”

“Naadi and the cameraman were subsequently released after they identified themselves as journalists during a screening by the Police,” the media organisation said.

Similarly, the police’s statement denying the arrest appears to have confirmed media reports that the BBC reporter and his colleague were arrested during the swoop.

“During their screening process, two persons identified themselves as journalists and were immediately allowed to go,” the police statement said.

The statement by the Ghana Police Service ties in with the report by the BBC journalist that he was released together with his colleague when they identified themselves as journalists.

“My cameraman and I were picked up at this nearby fuel station for covering the event, but later released,” Mr Naadi told the BBC.

The BBC discussion was also reported by Ghanaian media outlets.

It is, therefore, false for the Ghana Police Service to deny the arrest of the BBC reporter and his cameraman.

Conclusion:

The BBC journalist, Thomas Naadi and his cameraman were arrested by the police when they rounded up some protesters on September 21, 2023, on charges of “unlawful assembly.”

The Ghana Journalists Association has said its investigations revealed correspondents from the BBC, AFP, and AP were among some journalists arrested by the police despite “properly” identifying themselves.

The Assin Akonfudi road project, perceived by many to be abandoned, has been halted as a result of the interference of the rains. The construction of the road is slowly progressing as compared to the period leading to the elections. During its by-election, the Kumawu Constituency in the Ashanti Region witnessed rapid road rehabilitation and construction before the bye-election. Similarly, there was an intense and rapid construction and rehabilitation of roads in the Assin North Constituency in the period leading to the by-election in the area.

However, a publication by  GhanaWeb has indicated that the road construction within the Assin-Akonfudi enclave in the Assin-North Constituency of the Central Region has stopped. According to the report, the road was abandoned due to the outcome of the by-elections, which did not go in favour of the party in government. This has sparked political conversation on political shows, with some critics accusing the government of negligence. The viral nature of the article, as seen in news publications by Pulse.com, for instance, has necessitated this investigation by DUBAWA to discover if the project has been abandoned.

Site visit

Upon a visit to the project’s site, the Fact-checker discovered that not much work was being done on the 1.5 km road project being constructed by the Maripoma Enterprise Limited on the Assin-Akonfudi. The machines were not on site except for one full-hydraulic single-drum vibratory road roller machine parked in front of the Butwia Royal Palace in Assin-Akonfudi.

Status of the road project

In an interview, the Assin North District Chief Executive, Charles Ohene Andoh, disclosed that the road construction of the Assin-Akonfudi stretch has gone through all the processes for the commencement of the project.

According to him, before the by-election, the Feeder Roads Department approved the road for construction after inspecting the site. Mr Andoh, however, noted that the progress of the project has been delayed as a result of the downpour in recent times, which is affecting the speedy completion of the project. 

“Government is committed to solving social problems. All road projects that have commenced within the Assin-North Constituency will be completed devoid of political gimmicks and propaganda,” the DCE added.

Regarding why machines are not on site, the DCE clarified that they are done with their work on the road and are waiting for the rain to cease to enable contractors to start working on the first coat of the road.

A resident of Assin Breku also confirmed that the speed of the projects on roads within the Assin North Constituency before the election has slowed, causing the residents to worry about the reasons for the slow pace of work just after the by-election.

What are the contractors saying?

The Project Manager of Maripoma Enterprise Limited, Stephen Agyei-Kumi, noted that the project, which is 60 per cent complete, is currently ongoing. He points out that the primary work has already been done, but the completion is delayed due to the bad weather. According to him, his team and materials are on site, working for the smooth completion of the project on time.  When DUBAWA asked the contractor for the project’s cost and whether they had received funding, he indicated that the project’s cost could only be determined after the work was done. With regards to payment, he pointed out that they will receive the value of their work from the government after the project is done since it was taken over by a previous contractor.

Conclusion

Upon visits to the site, it is evident that the project, though halted, may soon be completed.

This report was produced under the Department of Communication Studies and DUBAWA’s project aimed at improving fact-checking competency and practice among Ghanaian media organisations with support from UNESCO IPDC.

Claim: The Minister of Tourism, Arts and Culture, Dr. Ibrahim Mohammed Awal, has claimed that the New Patriotic Party (NPP) government did not increase tariffs four years into government.

Verdict: False. According to data from the Public Utilities Regulatory Authority (PURC), the government increased utility tariffs, particularly electricity and water, by 5.94% and 2.22%, respectively in 2019. This was three years into its tenure in office.  

Full Text

The hospitality industry, a significant contributor to Ghana’s tourism economy, recently decided to protest the continuous increment in utility tariffs. The hoteliers indicated that the negative effects of tariff increases on their operations and profitability are enormous.

Reacting to this development, the Minister of Tourism, Arts and Industry, Dr Ibrahim Mohammed Awal, urged hoteliers to remain calm as the government works to revive the economy. In his appeal, he claimed that during the first four years of President Akufo Addo’s government, tariffs were not increased.

Mr Mohammed said:

“If you will remember, for four years, we never increased tariffs. Since President Akufo Addo’s time, from 2017, we [have] never increased tariffs. It’s just that we are facing some economic challenges, and we are working to restore the macroeconomic stability.

The claim was found in a news bulletin on August 30, 2023, on Citi TV’s major news bulletin, Citi Newsroom. The bulletin, which was streamed on Facebook, can be found from 54:11 -54:28. It has garnered over 3,000 views on Facebook.

Verification

President Akufo Addo began his administration on January 6, 2017. Putting the claim by the Tourism Minister into context, in the first four years (2017-2020) of the NPP administration, utility tariffs were not increased. Given this, our search was tailored to finding out if, from 2017 to 2020, there was an increment in tariff during the period.

In our search, we discovered that the Public Utilities Regulatory Commission (PURC), the body that regulates tariffs, announced an increment in September 2019, just a year before the first four years of President Akufo-Addo came to an end. The increase was 5.94% in electricity and 2.22% in water tariffs.

This announcement took effect on October 1, 2019. Given this, the claim by the Tourism Minister is false.

A number of media houses also reported the increases as can be seen here and here.

Conclusion

The claim by the Tourism Minister that the NPP government did not increase tariffs four years into his government is untrue.

Claim: Viral videos on TikTok and YouTube claim a Ghanaian lady appeared on the talent show America Got Talent and got a “YES” vote from all four judges.

Verdict: The video is an edited material taken from an original performance by 6-year-old Filipino-American Zoe Erianna on the talent show in June 2023.

Full Text

A five-minute video that has gone viral on social media shows a Ghanaian lady named Vivian Sefakor singing on the America Got Talent platform.

The videos were published with the title: “First Ghanaian 🇬🇭 on America Got Talent shocked the judges and everyone.”

The video begins with a supposed interaction between the lady and the judges before she proceeds to sing.

Different TikTok accounts such as this, this and this were seen to have posted the video.

The video has also been uploaded to different YouTube channels.

At the time of filing this report, the video had been watched more than ten million times on TikTok and YouTube.

Verification

Besides the difference in the sound quality from the judge and that of the said artiste, the inconsistent flow of the video raised suspicion.

After watching the video several times, DUBAWA saved key frames from the video and subjected it to Google reverse image searches.

The searches pointed to one direction: a previous upload of the video on various social media with keywords. The most popular among the keywords was ‘Zoe Erianna.’

Further searches revealed that Zoe Erianna was a previous contestant on America Got Talent platform.

A review of her performance on the show, as evidenced on the America Got Talent YouTube Channel, showed that the video matched elements of what was used in the viral video attributed to the Ghanaian.

This suggests that the viral video was made out of the original video shared on America Got Talent YouTube channel featuring 6-year-old Zoe Erianna.

A further search on TikTok suggests that the viral video emanated from an account known as ‘toplightproduction’.

A YouTube channel linked to the TikTok account of Top Light Production has uploaded the video under investigation. The video upload, however, had a disclaimer that the content was fabricated.

The disclaimer said: “My AGT videos are a creative way of expressing worship and praising God. It is not an actual AGT talent competition, but Top Light Production sampled it in collaboration with Global Talent and African Young Star, which aims to inspire and uplift the name of the Lord Jesus. Enjoy the artistic expression.”

This confirms that the video under review is not original footage from the America Got Talent show.

Conclusion

The viral video suggesting that a Ghanaian lady had made an appearance on the America Got Talent show was fabricated. The content was created by manipulating an original video featuring 6-year-old  Zoe Erianna.   

Claim: A viral tweet by a social media user,  @DailyInsightsGH claimed that ex-president Mahama says sports betting should be banned rather than taxed!

Verdict: Misleading! John Mahama criticised the government for imposing taxes on sports betting. He did not call for the banning of sports betting.

Full Text

The Ghana Revenue Authority announced on August 8, 2023, that the government intends to introduce a 10% withholding tax on all sports betting winnings. Find publications of the announcement here, here, here and here.

The tax follows after the passage of the Income Tax (Amendment) Act, 2023, Act 1094. This subjects all lottery winnings to a withholding tax, which is to be deducted by lottery operators and paid to the GRA.

The announcement and introduction of the 10% tax on sports betting has raised several arguments and concerns from the populace. Some have argued that the tax is cruel to ‘the youth’ who have resorted to betting due unemployment.

Various politicians have had their take on the issue, including ex-president John Mahama with most of them divided on the matter.

Shortly after the ex-president’s comments on the matter, DUBAWA found a tweet on @DailyInsightsGH suggesting the ex-president had called for a ban on betting. Similar claims were found on X (Twitter) user, @iLatif, who also shared a picture with the claim that ex-president John Dramani Mahama had called sports betting to be banned, rather than placing taxes on it. Find the viral tweet here.

At the time of writing this report, the tweet had received 305,800 views, 459 retweets, 3732 likes, and 99 quotes.

DUBAWA decided to investigate this claim because of the controversy it has garnered.

Verification

DUBAWA subjected each of the tweets to critical scrutiny and noticed that the post by @iLatif had ‘dailyinsightonline.com’ as its source. The researcher then proceeded to discover if such a website exists. A Google search revealed no results for such a website. However, the researcher found Theinsightnewsonline.com. This news portal had some news articles which covered Ghanaian issues.

Further probe on X  led the researcher to the page @DailyInsightsGH. Their feeds on August 16, 2023, revealed a similar post on the claim that Mahama had called for a ban on sports betting. 

The caption of the X post was “News: Former President Mahama wades into the 10% betting tax brouhaha. He advocates for a ban.” Find the post here.

Again, no link leads to an article with further details. However, the DailyInsightsGH X page had a link address leading to a page with several articles. We perused the page and found no article about the ‘Mahama Sports betting ban’ post on X.

Most articles on the page covered issues about the current vice president, Dr Bawumia.

In addition, DUBAWA surfed through mainstream online and the social media pages of  Mr Mahama to find if any content related to a ban on sports betting or even a tax on sports betting had been posted. His X,  Facebook pages and website had no updates or recent posts on tax on sports betting.

However, during his speech at Avenor Park under the theme, “Building The Ghana We Want Together,” Mr Mahama said the current government had introduced many taxes and would soon introduce a 10% tax on sports betting. He expressed his shock at the introduction of the tax briefly and moved on to how Ghana needs rescuing.

Find videos here and here. Find a fuller version of the video here from 36:40 to 37:35. DUBAWA has listened to the entire commentary by Mr Mahama and can state that at no point in that commentary did he call for a ban on betting.

Conclusion

The claim that ex-president John Mahama has called for banning sports betting rather than imposing taxes on it is misleading.

Claim: News reports claim the National Democratic Congress (NDC) has dismissed its Kumawu Women’s Organiser for declaring support for the New Patriotic Party (NPP).

Verdict: False. The Ashanti Regional Secretariat of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) has described the claims as inaccurate. However, a reverse image search revealed the viral photo is not that of the Women’s Organiser for the Kumawu Constituency in the Ashanti Region.

Full Text

News reports about a purported dismissal of the Women’s Organiser of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) of Kumawu in the Ashanti Region have gone viral on various portals. The reports were published on July 8, 2023, on news portals, including pulseghana.com, modernghana.com, 3news.com ghanareport.com, among others.

The reports claimed that the purported Women’s Organiser of Kumawu Akua Afriyie,

“during the campaign era in the Kumawu by-election noted that though she was an NDC member, if the NPP presented Alan as their flagbearer in the 2024 elections, she would gladly vote for him. She stated then that Alan had a vision that could save this country and give the teeming youth hope.”

The reports are accompanied by an image purporting to be the Women Organiser of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) of Kumawu in the Ashanti Region.

Verification

DUBAWA first contacted the Ashanti Regional Secretariat of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) for a reaction to the viral reports. DUBAWA was directed to a press statement it issued on August 9, 2023, on the matter.

In the statement signed by the Ashanti Regional Secretary, Dr Frank Amoakohene, the party said, “The publications by certain media outlets to the effect that the NDC had suspended its women’s organiser should be disregarded.”

According to the release, the NDC said, “the name (Akua Afriyie), linked to the story, does not exist in any of their records as a women’s organiser or party executive at the branch, constituency, or regional level.”

Who is the NDC Woman Organiser for Kumawu Constituency?

DUBAWA, however, discovered that a story by adomonline.com also reported on August 9, 2023, that the former Director of the New Patriotic Party (NPP)  Yaw Buaben Asamoa attributed Mary Agyemang as the name of the Women Organiser for the NDC at Kumawu.

He disclosed that he encountered “Ms Agyemang during the Kumawu by-election at the palace, where she was wearing NDC T-shirts despite being seen at the chief’s palace when Mr Kyerematen was present.”

A Google search, however, revealed the poster of Mary Agyemang when she was contesting on the ticket of the NDC as the Women Organiser. The picture on the poster differs from the viral picture purporting to be the Women Organiser for the Kumawu Constituency.

On Adom FM’s Dwaso Nsem, the Women Organiser of the NDC Mary Agyemang was phoned in, and she denied reports that she had been suspended. The interview video has been published on the YouTube account of the media house.

Conclusion

The claim that National Democratic Congress (NDC) has dismissed its Kumawu Women’s Organiser for declaring support for the New Patriotic Party (NPP) is false.

Claim: According to a viral video on social media, Joe Biden has resigned from his position as America’s president.

Verdict: False! The video making the rounds on social media is AI-generated.

Full Text

A video circulating on social media, including Twitter, TikTok, Facebook, and WhatsApp, states in its caption that “American President resigned due to advanced age and need to take care of his family, having lost a son before. Vice President to be sworn in tomorrow. African will rather die there. This is amazing, shocking lesson and historical indeed. Best of Lord Pa Joe…”

Verification

The United States of America is heading for a crucial election in 2024, with incumbent president Joe Biden of the Democratic Party set to battle it out with Former President Donald J. Trump of the Republican Party.

Both camps have been trying to court the attention of their followers and solicit votes when the time comes. DUBAWA Ghana decided to verify a claim making the rounds on social media about the resignation of Joe Biden as president of America on the grounds of advanced health and the need to take care of his family.

DUBAWA Ghana visited the social media handles of Joe Biden to verify if the content being circulated was true but did not see anything related to the claim. His Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram pages did not announce such a decision.

We proceeded to the websites of Joe Biden (joebiden.com) and the White House (whitehouse.gov) to see if we could find anything about the video. The results showed nothing related to the viral content being shared on social media.   

DUBAWA also monitored the major international websites, including CNN, and BBC, to see if the alleged report of resignation would find space on those platforms, but nothing like that was seen.

An InVID video analysis revealed that the viral video is an artificial intelligence (AI) generated video created by opiniochannels.com. The video was further broken down into keyframes for reverse image search. The result showed that the images used in the video were photos from Joe Biden’s Facebook page, and there was no original broadcast of the said resignation.

The video can be found on Clean TV, a Facebook page known for AI-generated content. The video also gives end credit to site opinionschannel.com as the source of the video. However, a search on the website revealed several other AI-generated videos.  The channel is engaged in satirical/comedy content creation using AI tools with a #comedy written as part of the video’s captions. Similar AI-generated video content about Joe Biden, Donald Trump, and other personalities can be seen on their website.

However, the content was misconstrued by a section of the over 30,000 commentators on Facebook and Tiktok, where the video was posted, with many of them believing, sharing, and amplifying the video’s reach.             

Conclusion

The viral video circulating on social media claiming to be of Joe Biden delivering his resignation speech is AI-generated. Hence, the content is FALSE!

Claim: The Ranking Member on the Food and Agriculture and Cocoa Affairs Committee of Parliament, Eric Opoku, has claimed that all banks in the country recorded losses in 2022.

Verdict: False. The 2022 audited financial statements of GT Bank, Societe General, First Atlantic Bank, FBN Bank Ghana, United Bank of Africa and Guaranty Trust Bank show that they all recorded profits in 2022.  

Full Text

In a Wednesday, August 9, 2023, interview on Adom FM 106.3FM, the Ranking Member on the Food and Agriculture and Cocoa Affairs Committee of Parliament, Eric Opoku, claimed that all banks in the country recorded losses in 2022.

The claim was made in a local dialect, Twi. Translating it into English, Mr Opoku said, “Do you know that in 2022 all the banks in the country recorded losses?”

He made this claim during a discussion segment on Dwaso Nsem, the radio station’s morning show. The discussion was centred on the recent loss of ¢60.8 Billion Ghana cedis in 2022 by the Bank of Ghana. The claim can be found from 0:53 – 0:57 of the show, published on its YouTube account. 

Adom FM, according to the Ghana Media Measurement Report for 2017, was ranked as the 4^rth most listened to radio station in the Greater Accra Region with over 83,000 listeners.

Verification Verification

According to the Bank of Ghana, there are 23 commercial registered banks. In view of this, DUBAWA critically reviewed all the 2022 audited financial statements of these banks.

Our research discovered that most banks that have released their 2022 audited financial statements as of August 12, 2023, have recorded losses.

Out of the 23 banks, only six recorded profits. This record loss results from a difficult economic environment that triggered the Domestic Debt Exchange Programme or debt restructuring, negatively impacting the operations of the financial institutions.

According to their 2022 audited financial statements, the six banks that recorded a profit before tax (PBT) were Guaranty Trust Bank (¢191m), Societe Generale (¢168m), FBN Ghana Limited (¢102m), Bank of Africa (¢14m), First Atlantic Bank (¢ 22m) and United Bank of Africa (¢91m).

However, as of  the writing of this report, the National Investment Bank had not published its audited financial statement.    

The banks that recorded losses are Absa Bank Ghana Limited, Access Bank (Ghana)Plc, Agricultural Development Bank Limited, CalBank PLC, Consolidated Bank Ghana Limited, Ecobank Ghana Limited, Fidelity Bank Ghana Limited, First National Bank Limited and GCB Bank Limited.

The others are OmniBSIC Bank Limited, Prudential Bank Limited, Republic Bank Limited, Stanbic  Bank Limited, Standard Chartered Bank (Ghana Limited), Universal Merchant Bank Limited and Zenith Bank (Ghana) Limited.

Even though most banks recorded losses with local banks being the hardest, it is inaccurate to claim that all banks recorded losses in 2022.

Conclusion

The claim that all banks in Ghana recorded losses in 2022 is false.

Claim: Media reports state that students sitting for Ghana’s 2023 Basic Education Certificate Examination (BECE) are the last batch to take that examination.

Verdict: FALSE! Both the Ministry of Education and the Ghana Education Service (GES) have refuted the claim. The Ministry and its agency have explained the 2023 candidates will be the last batch to write the BECE under the old syllabus. However, the 2024 BECE will be conducted under the new syllabus, the Minister of Education and the GES Director-General have said.

Full Text

At least 600,714 Ghanaian students are participating in the 2023 Basic Education Certificate Examination (BECE), which began on August 7, 2023, across the country. See news reports here, here and here.

There are 300,391 females and 300,323 males from 18,993 schools nationwide, the West African Examinations Council (WAEC) has said.

According to the examination body, the number of candidates registered for the 2023 BECE is 8.8%, higher than the 2022 entry figure pegged at 552,276. See here for the press briefing on this year’s examinations by WAEC.

The BECE began following the introduction of the Junior Secondary School (JSS) system in Ghana on September 1, 1987. See here, here, and here.

The rationale for the reform, as explained by the Dzobo Committee Report of 1973, was to fashion “a new type of education that was consistent with national development.” See paragraph 2, line 3 of the report here. Also, see here.

However, the first BECE was written in 1990.

Exactly 33 years since the start of the BECE in the country, there are reports that this year’s candidates will be the last batch to take that examination.

See various media reports here, here, here, here, and here.

“These candidates will be the last batch of students to write BECE. A new examination will be administered in 2024 following the introduction of the new curriculum in 2019,” Accra-based Myjoyonline reported on August 7, 2023. See the report here.

The reports were fuelled by the introduction of the new Standards Based Curriculum (SBC) in Ghana in 2019, which marked a major shift from the objective-based curriculum (OBC) characterised by rot learning, also known as chew-pour-pass-and-forget educational system.

The National Council for Curriculum and Assessment (NaCCA) has said the SBC will address the challenges with the objective-based curriculum by ensuring that the content of the curriculum is benchmarked to international standards. See the report here.

DUBAWA investigated the reports because of the interest it has generated in the country.

Verification

Both the Ministry of Education and the Ghana Education Service (GES) have maintained that this year’s candidates will not be the last to participate in the BECE.

The Minister of Education, Dr Osei Yaw Adutwum, said in March this year that the government has no intention of scrapping the BECE. See reports here, and here.

The Minister of Education, who doubles as a Member of Parliament (MP), said reports that the BECE would be scrapped to enrol junior high school students into the various senior high schools in the country is a “hoax.”

He noted that the “government is committed to ensuring every school-going Ghanaian child is provided with the best infrastructure and materials needed to train him or her.”

“I can assure you that my Ministry will help create a conducive learning environment and the necessary interventions to guarantee this outcome,” he told the members of the Conference of Assisted Senior High Schools (CHASS) and Principals of Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) in Kumasi on March 11, 2023.

Similarly, the Director-General of GES, Dr Eric Nkansah, has said there is no such plan to cancel the BECE in the country.

See here, here, and here.

“Please do not communicate that we are no longer writing BECE. The BECE is not cancelled, we are writing (it) and even those who are in junior high school (JHS) 2 will also write it,” he addressed participants at a forum organised by WAEC on the BECE Grading Systems in Accra on June 1, 2023. See the report here.

Less than 24 hours after the start of the 2023 BECE, the GES has called out an Accra-based TV3 over a report that this year’s examination will be the last of its kind.

See the post here.

Conclusion

The junior high school students sitting for the 2023 BECE in Ghana are not the last batch to take the examination. However, they are the last to write the BECE under the old syllabus.

The Ministry of Education and the Ghana Education Service said the 2024 BECE would be under the new Standards Based Curriculum (SBC).