Claim: Dr. Bawumia has been appointed to the board of the United Nations 

Source: Social Media (X and Facebook)

Verdict: Misleading

Researched by Nusrat Essah

An X user, @AcheampongHarry, shared an 18-second video claiming that the former Vice President of Ghana, Dr Mahamudu Bawumia, has been appointed to the Board of the United Nations. 

The video shows a published article by the Permanent Mission of Ghana to the United Nations with the title: “Vice President Dr Bawumia appointed to United Nations.”

A similar claim was shared on Facebook and captioned; “It’s a win-win for Ghana as the vice president of Ghana appointed to the board of the United Nations.”

The claim shared on X on January 4, 2025,  has garnered about 61.6K views, 50 retweets, 80 comments, and 792 likes while the Facebook post attracted 467 likes, 224 comments and 13 shares. 

Another Facebook user shared the link to the article with a caption: “We don’t Need Him but They Need Him,” suggesting that despite not winning the 2024 elections, the UN has given Bawumia an appointment.

Fig 1: Screenshots of posts on X and Facebook

Fact-Check

GhanaFact reviewed the report circulating on social media and traced it to a July 9, 2018 publication from the official website of the Permanent Mission of Ghana to the United Nations. 

The article titled ‘Vice President Dr Bawumia Appointed to United Nations Board,’ read in part: “Ghana’s Vice-President Mahamudu Bawumia has been appointed to the Board of the Global Partnership for Sustainable Development Data, a release received here Monday said.

“Bawumia therefore left Accra on Sunday for the UN Headquarters in New York where the board is based to participate in a two-day meeting. The Global Partnership for Sustainable Development Data (GPSDD) is a global network bringing together governments, the private sector, and civil society organizations dedicated to using the data revolution to achieve the SDGs,” the publication added.

As part of his engagement in New York when he attended the said meeting, Bawumia met with the UN Deputy General Secretary, Amina Mohammed, who is one of the 17 persons who were also on the board. Bawumia also posted about the meeting on July 11, 2018 on his Facebook page.

The news of the former Vice President’s appointment was also published on July 9, 2018,  by multiple news websites (here, here, and here). 

According to the website of the GPSDD, its board was constituted in 2017 and a further review of the board membership shows that Bawumia is still listed as a member of the board.  

The article circulating is an old publication from 2018 and not in 2025 as portrayed on social media platforms.

Verdict

Therefore, the claim is misleading.