Kenyan blogger misleadingly labels Otumfuo’s convoy as that of a politician
A video showing a convoy of the King of the Ashanti Kingdom, Otumfuo Nana Osei Tutu II has been misleadingly shared on X and captioned: “A Ghanaian Politician Motorcade.”
The 55-seconds long video shared on September 9, 2024 by a Kenyan blogger shows a long convoy of speeding cars along an almost deserted road stretch as over half a dozen police dispatch riders sound their sirens to pave the way for the convoy.
The video at the time of filing this report had been viewed over 500,000 times with more than 3,000 interaction including comments, reposts and likes.
Fig 1 – A snapshot of the post on X
Many of the comments were a stern critique of African politicians deemed extravagant in their ways. In contrast, others sought to explain that the motorcade was not connected to any politician.
This report will verify whether the footage was indeed from Ghana and if it involved a Ghanaian politician.
Fact-Check
GhanaFact traced the origins of the video to a TikTok post by a user: @lino_lens. The original caption of the TikTok video read: “Otumfuo Osei Tutu II departs Kumasi and journeys to Cape Coast ahead of this Saturday’s Oguaa fetu Afahye 60th anniversary.”
Upon an assessment of the video, GhanaFact also noticed the following details which support the caption that the convoy was filmed in Ghana and it showed an entourage of the Asantehene.
One of the vehicles in the convoy bore the Ashanti state logo on the number plate.
A billboard on the stretch bore the location Odeneho, Kwadaso, a town in the Ashanti Region.
Fig 2 – Logo of Asanteman circled in yellow
Fig 3 – Odeneho, Kwadaso label on billboard circled in red
Furthermore, GhanaFact has identified multiple posts from Manhyia-affiliated social media handles showing the Asantehene’s departure from Kumasi and arrival in Cape Coast on September 6 to attend the 2024 edition of the Gomoa Fetu Afahye. (here, here, here).
From the above, it is clear that the footage was taken in Ghana and shows the Asantehene’s entourag that travelled to Cape Coast. It was not a convoy of a politician as being portrayed.
