Claim: Dr Bawumia pictured in an NDC shirt after defecting from NPP.
Source: GhanaFact WhatsApp Chatbot
Verdict: AI-generated
Researched by Gifty Danso
GhanaFact, through its WhatsApp Chatbot, received an image showing former Vice President and 2024 flagbearer for the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Dr Mahamudu Bawumia, wearing a shirt of the National Democratic Congress (NDC).
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Fig 1- Image submitted to our chatbot
This report will ascertain the authenticity of the photo.
Fact-check
Using Google Reverse Image Search, GhanaFact traced the photo to March 11, 2025 posts on Facebook, TikTok and X. The captions suggested that Bawumia had defected to the NDC.
GhanaFact noted that the image had the logo of Grok AI in the bottom-right corner. Grok AI is the generative AI product of Elon Musk’s xAI. It can be used to generate images, just like all other large language models designed for generating, changing, or analyzing text.
Another striking feature of the image is seen on the left eye side of Bawumia, where his eye and ear appear to have shifted into the spectacle. This is a known feature of distortions that some AI-generated images have.
Fig 2 – Submitted image showing distorted area and Grok logo
To investigate possible AI manipulation, we submitted the image through Hivemoderation – an AI-generation content detection tool.
The results showed strong signs that the image is AI-generated or a deepfake, as it was rated 97.1%.
GhanaFact run tests on Grok, feeding it with the image submitted to the chatbot and asking it to generate similar images of Bawumia. Grok returned the following results below. The main difference was that the green parts of the shirt had turned bluish while the crowd in the background are more dominant as compared to the original image submitted.
Fig 4- Results from Grok AI after our enquiry
There is also no public record of Dr Mahamudu Bawumia announcing his defection from the NPP to the NDC, either by himself or as reported by any media house.
Verdict
The image is AI-generated.
NOTE: This claim was submitted by a user of the GhanaFact chatbot.
