Election 2024: Fact-checking election-related disinformation content [Day 7]

Below are claims worked on by the Ghana Fact-Checking Coalition on December 10, which is Day 7 of our operations.

List of headlines:

• False! E-levy has not been abolished 
• False! Cedi has not dropped to 7 cedis against dollar
• Tepa chaos – What we know so far
• EXPLAINER! 9 appointments Mahama must make today
• False! Betting tax has not been abolished 

CLAIM 1

Headline: False! E-levy has not been abolished 

Claim: A social media user is asking if E-levy charges are not being charged anymore. 

Source:  Facebook Archive here

Verdict: False

Explanation: According to Article 174 of the 1992 Constitution, taxes can be imposed or abolished only through an Act of Parliament. The government has not sent a bill to Parliament to review the Electronic Transfer Levy Act, 2022 (Act 1075) and the Electronic Transfer Levy (Amendment) Act 2022 (ACT 1089), which imposes a levy of 1% on electronic transfers. To be convinced the tax is still in place the Ghana Fact-Checking Coalition attempted a mobile money transaction and can confirm that the E-levy charges are still in force. Below is the screenshot of the transaction.

Therefore, the claim that E-levy is no longer being charged is false. 

CLAIM 2

Headline: False! Cedi has not dropped to 7 cedis against dollar

Claim: An X user is alleging a reduction in the exchange rate against the dollar. He said “Dem announce Mahama naa, the dollar reach 7 cedis wow”

Source: @the_marcoli_boy  archived here

Verdict: False

Explanation:  X (formerly Twitter) user @the_marcoli_boy  has claimed that following the announcement of John Mahama as president, the cedi has appreciated, moving from 14 cedis to 7 cedis against the dollar. However, checks by the Ghana Fact-Checking Coalition on the Bank of Ghana’s website show that as of December 9, 2024, the official exchange rate remains at 14.8 Ghana cedis to the dollar. It is, therefore inaccurate to suggest that the rate is 7 cedis.

CLAIM 3

Headline: Tepa chaos: What we know so far

Claim: A WhatsApp message claims, “Soldiers sent by the NPP have invaded Tepa and have shot a comrade as the EC tries to change the results.”

Source: WhatsApp 

Explanation: Here is what we know so far

• Sources available to the Coalition in Tepa reported a misunderstanding broke out during the counting of votes after polls on December 7, 2024. According to the report, at the initial stage of the counting, the National Democratic Congress appeared to be winning, until results from the special voting, which happened on December 3, 2024, were added. 
• Our source indicated the results from special voting began going in favour of the New Patriotic Party, which led to disagreement between members of the two parties, as members of the NDC believed they had been shortchanged. 
• The members of NDC went on a rampage throughout the night of December 7 leading to a halt in the counting of votes cast. However, calm was restored in the early hours of December 8 until the late afternoon when chaos broke out again after the invasion of people identified as thugs. Soldiers were then deployed to the community.
• In the midst of the chaos, an unidentified person was shot dead. 

CLAIM 4

EXPLAINER! 9 appointments Mahama must make today

Explanation: The President-elect, John Dramani Mahama, has nine critical appointments to make within 24 hours after the Electoral Commission Chairperson, Jean Mensa, announced him as the winner of the 2024 presidential election.

These appointments are in keeping to the Presidential (Transition) Act, 2012 (Act 845).

The Returning Officer for the Presidential Election, Jean Mensa, announced the results on Monday, December 9, 2024, around 6:00 pm (GMT). This means that the President-elect has to make the appointments sooner than later.  

The Presidential (Transition) Act, 2012 (Act 845) states;

Per section 1 (1) of Act 845, within 24 hours after the declaration of the results of the presidential election, as provided for in Article 63 of the 1992 Constitution of Ghana, the President-Elect shall appoint:

(i)   The Head of the Presidential Staff appointed under the Presidential Office Act; 1993 (Act 463),

(ii)   The Attorney-General, and

(iii)  The Minister responsible for Presidential Affairs,

(iv)   The minister responsible for Finance,

(v)    The minister responsible for Interior,

(vi)   The minister responsible for Defence,

(vii)  The minister responsible for Foreign Affairs,

(viii)  The minister responsible for Local Government and

(ix)    The minister responsible for National Security.

Also, Section 1(1) (b) of the Presidential (Transition) Act, 2012 (Act 845) requires the President-Elect to appoint an equal number of persons to constitute the Transition Team.

The Transition Team shall include;

i) the Head of the Civil Service,

ii) the Head of the Local Government Service,

iii) the Secretary to the Cabinet, and

iv) the National Security Coordinator.

According to the law, the Transition Team should be co-chaired by the incumbent President, Nana Akufo-Addo, and the President-Elect, John Mahama.

It further stipulates that either the incoming or outgoing president could delegate any of their functions to a transition team member. 

It remains to be seen who the two presidents will fall on as members of the transition team.

CLAIM 5

Headline: False! Betting tax has not been abolished 

Claim: A social media user claimed that the betting tax in Ghana had been removed even though John Mahama has yet to be sworn in.

Source: X Archive Here

Verdict: False

Explanation: The Ghana Revenue Authority started withholding 10% on all wins on gaming platforms from August 2023. The betting tax was introduced following the passage of the Income Tax (Amendment) Act, 2023, Act 1094. Even though the two leading political parties, John Mahama and Dr Mahamudu Bawumia, promised to remove the betting tax, this has yet to be done by Mr Maham, who was declared President-Elect. According to Article 174 of the 1992 Constitution, taxes can be imposed or abolished only through an Act of Parliament. No such communication has been sent to Parliament for the removal of the taxes. Therefore, the claim that Mahama has removed the betting tax is false.