Claim: President Akufo-Addo is annoyed with Dr Mahamudu Bawumia

Source:  X / Twitter

Verdict: MISLEADING

Researched by Benjamin Tenkorang

A viral video of President Nana Akufo-Addo calling on members of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) to defend the government’s track record is being portrayed online as his direct response to the recent national address by the party’s current flagbearer.

Speaking on the theme: “Ghana’s next chapter: selfless leadership and bold solutions for the future” on February 7, 2024, Dr Mahamudu Bawumia who is the NPP flagbearer and Ghana’s Vice President, shared some reflections on the performance of the economy and stated how he will do things differently when elected as president; including reducing the size of government and abolishing e-levy.

“Nana Addo is not happy with Bawumia. He says Ghanaians are not gullible to believe DMB,” “Akufo Addo is annoyed with Bawumia for distancing himself from his government,” among other captions are how some netizens are portraying the video of President Nana Akufo-Addo on social media and it started circulating a day after Dr Mahamudu Bawumia’s public address (here, here and here ).

A screengrab of a post on X/Twitter
A screenshot of a post on X/Twitter
A screenshot of a post on X/Twitter

In the viral 1 minute video, the President could be heard partly saying: “I don’t see what we gain by attacking the record of our [own] government. When you do that and become the party candidate, what are you going to tell the people of Ghana? Oh, it was Akufo-Addo who misled you and mismanaged affairs. I will be different even though I am NPP. I am still under the ‘ɔsono’ sign, I am different, and the people of Ghana will be that gullible, no. Let’s be serious.”

Fact–Check

A closer look at the viral video shows the logo of TV3, a leading free-to-air television network in Ghana.

Subsequent checks by GhanaFact on the YouTube channel of TV3, show the viral video was first published by the platform six months ago, on August 2, 2023, and so it cannot be a direct response to Dr Mahamudu Bawumia’s recent speech.

The original video clip published by TV3 is three minutes long and shows the President addressing NPP communicators ahead of the party’s Presidential primaries, where he responded to several complaints including that he was intimidating party members to back the Vice President (here).

A screenshot of the original video posted on the TV3 YouTube channel

At the meeting, the President also seized the opportunity to caution members who intend to distance themselves from the works of his government.

This is evident when he said: “Once the presidential primary is over, that is going to be the issue before the country,” between 2 minutes 53 seconds to 2 minutes 59 seconds of the video.

Verdict

The claim is rated misleading.