A leading member of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Alan John Kwadwo Kyerematen, on September 25, 2023, announced his resignation from the party, and by that withdrew from contesting the party’s flagbearership race.

Addressing the press, Alan Kyerematen also announced plans to contest in the upcoming 2024 general elections as an independent presidential candidate.

This fact-check report seeks to verify two claims made by Alan Kyerematen during his press conference.

Claim 1

“Out of the over 17 million registered voters in the 2020 general elections, the youth aged 18-35 years constituted over 9.4 million voters.” (30:55-31:20)

 Fact-Check

To fact-check this claim, GhanaFact will use data from the Electoral Commission of Ghana, the constitutional body mandated to referee all public elections and referenda.

An infographic titled “Regional Breakdown of 18-35-year-olds” on the Electoral Commission of Ghana’s website shows that 9,375,515, approximately 9.4 million, fall within the age bracket and represent 55.1% of the total voter population.

Breakdown of age groups in the 2020 general elections voter register 

Age Group 

(year olds)

 Total Voter Population

(number of registered voters)

 Percentage 
18-21 2,635,050 15.5%
18-35  9,375,515 55.1%
36-45 2,078,550 19.5%
46-55 468, 090,191 12.2%
56-65 1,289,491 7.6%
65-75 628,099 7.6%
75 and above 341,051 2.0%

Source: Electoral Commission of Ghana

Verdict

The claim overstates the fact.

Claim 2

“From available statistics, 85% of all prison inmates are aged between 12 and 35 years.” (31:35 to 44)

Fact-Check

 To verify the claim, GhanaFact submitted an information request to the Ghana Prison Service, according to Article 21(f) of the 1992 Constitution of Ghana, which affords all persons a Right to Information and Section 18 of the Right to Information Act, 2019, (Act 989).

The data from the Headquarters of the Ghana Prisons Service shows that the aspiring independent presidential candidate overstated the percentage of inmates between 12 and 35.

The response signed by the Deputy Superintendent of Prisons, Information Officer, Aurther Pieteson Irene, shows that the age distribution and percentage of inmates admitted from the year 2020 to 2022 between the age distribution of 12 – 35 is 82.54%.

Also, the age distribution and percentage of inmates admitted from 2022 to 2023 between the ages of 18 – 35 is 81.89%.

Source: Ghana Prisons Service

Verdict

The claim is rated false.