Claim: Gabby Otchere-Darko defends family members appointed into government

Source: Viral flyer

Verdict: MISLEADING

Researched by Sedem Kwasigah

On January 18, 2024, GhanaFact through its monitoring came across a post on X/ Twitter attributed to a leading member of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Gabby Asare Otchere-Darko.

A visual card with the picture of Mr Otchere-Darko in the background quoted him as saying: “Our grandfather was sensible enough to educate all his grandchildren, so all of us are well educated, that’s why Akufo-Addo appointed a lot of his family members into his government.”

A screenshot of the post on X/Twitter

Fact-Check

GhanaFact while investigating this claim came across a short video excerpt of an interview Gabby Otchere-Darko granted Starr FM’s personality profile show – Starr Chat on January 18, 2024, which has generated a lot of social media conversation. 

The full one-hour, forty-six-minute long interview has been published on Starr FM’s Facebook page and some 24 minutes into the interaction, Gabby mounted a defence of the President’s decision to appoint members of his family into government. He partly said:

“Look, my grandfather had over hundred children and we have his diaries. In his diary, he made sure he educated his children. I am making a point. My point is that when you look, Susana Ofori-Attah, there are a lot of people, he took his time, he spent resources to educate his children… there are over a hundred of them. It’s a family that many of its members have dedicated their lives to public service, so naturally, they get into politics, they get into public service, and not all of us, just a few of us are into politics, a lot are into banking, doctors, nurses, they are in all manner of places, but there are so many of us and because they got education early, at a time that only a minority of Ghanaians were getting education, it gave them if you like, to a point, a head start.”

However, GhanaFact checks show nowhere in the interview did Gabby say what has been attributed to him on the flyer.

Meanwhile, Starr FM and GHOne TV, both owned by the EIB Network – a big media group operating across all platforms, have issued a debunk of the claim published on the flyer (here, here and here).

 

A screengrab of the debunk published by Starr FM

 

A screengrab of the debunk published by GhOne TV

 

Verdict

The claim attributed to Gabby Asare Otchere-Darko on the viral visual card is misleading.