ANALYSIS: Genesis of the fake 2024 ‘gazetted presidential result’ that went viral

GhanaFact monitored a disinformation trend days after John Dramani Mahama was declared president-elect on December 8, 2024. According to viral posts across social media platforms, the Electoral Commission (EC) had gazetted 38.2% for the New Patriotic Party (NPP) and 57.7% for the National Democratic Congress (NDC) as the final results from the 2024 presidential elections. 

This report will trace the genesis of the viral result and point out how it led to a misinformation storm amplified by the social media accounts of top party functionaries including John Dramani Mahama who shared a flyer with one of the supposedly gazetted results on January 3, 2025.  

Through a keyword search on Facebook, GhanaFact found the very first post about the viral result on the wall of an NDC activist, Koku Mawuli Nanegbe on December 19, 2024.

The post reads: “2024 Presidential Election Results Gazetted by EC!!! Alhaji Bawumia – 38.2%. JM – 57.7%.” 

Kevin Taylor’s amplification  

According to GhanaFact observation, despite Nanegbe’s initial post, it took Kevin Taylor, a US-based ardent critic of the erstwhile government, reposting of the results for the unverified claim to go viral.

In one of the post-declaration broadcasts on his Facebook page, With All Due Respect TV, Taylor speculated that Bawumia’s initial 41.61% could go further down if the nine initial outstanding results are collated.

Then on December 22, exactly 14 days after the EC’s declaration and three days after Nanegbe’s post, Taylor made a post about Bawumia scoring lower than the initially declared 41%. 

“I want debate, Come for Debate, Mahama don’t want to debate me, Osuro. All amounted to 41%… you actually had 38%,” his post read.

Two days later, he shared a post that  read: “Final Results 2024 Elections according to their own EC. NPP’s Bawumia – 38.2%. NDC’s Mahama. – 57.7%.” This post was shared at 11:41 AM on December 24, 2024.

NDC Bigwigs reshare viral figures as gazetted results

The figures as posted by Kevin Taylor quickly went viral with top functionaries of the NDC sharing it on X and Facebook. 

The Member of Parliament of Adaklu, Kwame Governs Agbodza as well as NDC Communications Team member, Beatrice Annan, shared the viral results on X. While the MP posted only the numbers, the NDC communicator’s full post read: “EC gazetted results. NDC’s Mahama – 57.7%. NPP’s Bawumia – 38.2%. 38% is an abysmal performance by every standard.”

Other party supporters also amplified the post here, here, here, here and here. Bawumia was subsequently referred to as Alhaji 38% online, here, here and here. 

It is worthy of note that the then President-elect, John Dramani Mahama, bought into the 57% win when he shared a victory rally flyer dubbed 57% Victory Rally – a march from Accra Mall to El Wak on January 4, 2025.

The NDC’s National Youth Organizer, George Opare Addo, also shared the same 57% Victory Rally flyer on his social media handles. 

The viral 57.7% and 38.2% result

The EC has as at January 10, published its final gazetted results, with an outstanding constituency (Ablekuma North). Between the announcement of these two EC results was the viral result that alleged that John Mahama’s vote had appreciated to 57.7 from the initial 56.55, while Bawumia had dropped significantly from 41.61% to 38.2%. 

Table 1 – Comparison of the initial EC result vs. the viral result

The EC’s latest update on the 2024 Presidential Election Results.

The initial results announcement on December 8, 2024 was made with results from nine constituencies outstanding, by the time the gazetted version was released, only results from Ablekuma North Constituency in the Greater Accra Region were pending.

Below are the results from both announcements emphasising statistics relating to the main frontrunners, former Vice President Mahamudu Bawumia of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) and President John Dramani Mahama of the National Democratic Congress (NDC).

Table 2 – Statistics of 2024 presidential results announcements

From the above, it is evident that while both candidates gained votes in real numbers, President Mahama’s percentage slightly dipped while Bawumia gained.

The initial result was without votes from nine out of the 276 constituencies, the nine were Awutu Senya East, Nsawam Adoagyiri, Akwatia, Suhum, Techiman South, Dome Kwabenya, Ablekuma North, Ahafo Ano North, and Damongo.

Of the nine, only Ablekuma North was still outstanding as of the time the EC announced the second result. 

EC responds to viral results 

GhanaFact contacted Dr Bossman Asare, Deputy Chairperson of the EC in charge of Corporate Affairs, over the viral claim of the ‘gazetted results.’ “What is trending is false,” he told a team member in a phone interview. “It is not true. We do not gazette with figures or percentages,” he said.

According to him, by law, the EC’s gazette for a presidential result only states the candidate who has been validly elected as president after an election. 

He cited Article 63 (3) of the 1992 Constitution which states: “A person shall not be elected as President of Ghana unless at the presidential election the number of votes cast in his favour is more than fifty per cent of the total number of valid votes cast at the election.”

Conclusion

From the above, it is clear that what started as a post by a party activist mutated into a ‘gazetted’ result of the 2024 election, amplified by key national officers of the NDC including the then president-elect John Dramani Mahama.

Researched by Alfa Shaban