On January 13, 2025, the Appointments Committee of Ghana‘s Parliament began vetting President John Dramani Mahama‘s ministerial nominees as part of the constitutional process that requires parliamentary approval of nominated ministers.
At the time of filing this report, over forty nominees (here, here, and here) have appeared before the committee, vetted and approved.
As this process took shape in Parliament, another activity unfolded on social media. GhanaFact monitored the recycling of old videos of the appointees expressing opinions on national issues, ranging from Free Senior High School (Free SHS) to youth unemployment.
These tactics have, however, sparked debates online about consistency in political messaging and the use of context in assessing public figures. In this report, GhanaFact highlights some of the disinformation trends that have shaped the ongoing ministerial vetting process.
Some nominees targeted by this recirculation of videos included Haruna Iddrisu, for the Education Ministry, and Cassiel Ato Forson, for the Finance Ministry. Others were Abdul Rashid Pelpuo, and Sam George, nominees for the Employment and Communications portfolios respectively.
RelatedNews
Haruna Iddrisu on Free SHS
On January 17, 2025, the NPP Project Bureau shared on Facebook, a video of Haruna Iddrisu discussing Free SHS policies in Parliament with the caption;
“The man to cancel Free SHS policy: Hon. Haruna Iddrisu, the Education Minister-designate, has sparked controversy with his proposal to scrap the Free SHS program, suggesting instead that a means assessment model be implemented to determine which students qualify for free education.”
In the 21-second video, Haruna Iddrisu is captured saying, “My controversial point: Ghana needs a means test to determine who can pay, who cannot pay, and who can pay for education. This political thing of wanting to please everybody…”
While Haruna Iddrisu was appointed Minister of Education on January 16, 2025, GhanaFact observed that the circulating video was originally shared by JoyNews on March 22, 2023, and not in the context of his vetting or recent discussions.
The video appears to have been deliberately recirculated by opposing parties to misrepresent his current position on Free SHS.
Dominic Ayine on Ghana Card
On January 17, 2025, an X user, @GhanaPoliticalU shared a video of Dominic Ayine, then Attorney General and Minister for Justice-nominee) in an interview with the press, expressing admiration for the Ghana Card.
The video was captioned; “This is what the incoming Attorney General Dominic Ayine said about Dr. Bawumia’s digitalisation efforts. The benefits of the biometric Ghana Card championed by Dr Bawumia has set a good foundation for any government to make good decisions.”
In the video, Dominic Ayine is heard saying: “To think that this is being done by a Ghanaian company, fully owned…that is being operated and run by Ghanaians, it is, for me, heartwarming. One thing I can say is that today, the Members of Parliament from the subsidiary legislation committee, as well as the defence and interior committees, have had their eyes opened to the multifunctional character of the Ghana Card that beyond it being used, you know, for voter registration, it is also a card that can provide the basis of even physical stability.
“It can prevent cybercrime and as I once said on Joy FM, it can provide us not only clean elections but also clean society. And I think that all of you are witnesses of what has happened today. As a group and in a bipartisan manner support the work not only of the NIA but also this Ghanaian multinational company for it to succeed, so it is not something that is keyed into the politics of the NDC and the politics of the NPP.”
GhanaFact traced the video back to a March 14, 2024, Instagram post by JoyNews. At the time, Dominic Ayine’s bipartisan stance underscored the Ghana Card’s potential to transcend political divides.
While he was approved as Attorney-General and Minister for Justice on January 21, 2025, the resurfaced video portrayed him as forward-thinking and willing to acknowledge policies from political opponents when they align with national interest. It is worthy of note that, contrary to what the video caption sought to portray, Ayine’s entire submission was based on a bipartisan committee work which wasn’t linked to the former Vice President’s digitalization efforts at the time.
Rashid Pelpuo on Employment and Youth Empowerment
On January 21, 2025, x users, @mylo_melo and @MrIrish3 (archived here) shared a video of nominee Rashid Pelpuo speaking on a TV program. Mylo captioned his post as follows: “So under the 24hrs Economy, we will have people who will be cutting grasses in the morning, afternoon and night shifts. Wow! what a game changing innovation from Dr. Abdul-Rashid Pelpuo”
The caption whiles mocking the Minister-designate’s stated approach to addressing unemployment (cutting grass or collecting stones for sale) also drew in the governing party’s 24-hour economy policy averring that there will be grass cutting modules under the policy.
In the video Rashid Pelpuo was heard saying “Even in Accra here, somebody goes to where there are grasses, just look for a cutlass or a sickle, cut the grasses, put it in the sack, put it by the wayside for people who breed animals, every single day if you do that somebody will come and buy.
“You don’t need enough capital to do that (but you need some skills). And I said okay, even in the outskirt communities in Accra, go into the bush every stone you find, just pick, lift them, put it in the bucket come and pour it there, every day do that for one month, you’ll have two trips or three trips of stones, you don’t need any skill to do that and there are a lot.”
The video in question, however, was originally recorded in September 2020 during a discussion where Rashid Pelpuo addressed the challenges of youth unemployment, urging the youth to explore unconventional ways of earning an income.
The resurfacing of the video has been amplified to suggest that the Minister-designate was not fit for the role because of a previous response on how to solve the issue of unemployment. Amid criticism from opponents, Pelpuo, during his vetting, responded to the issue clarifying that he spoke about cutting grace and selling stones within a context of people creating jobs via innovative means.
Sam George on Digital Infrastructure
On January 21, 2025, a Facebook user Shafic Kwabena Osman posted a video of Sam George speaking on MetroTV about the then government’s engagement with a private company.
He captioned it “excellent programmer and software engineer heading to Ministry of Communications and Digital Innovation.”
In the video, Sam George was captured saying: “They are dealing with a private company called Express Pay to do the collection and build a monitoring platform for them which they are going to buy, they want to buy for 40 million dollars. GRA and persons at the Ministry of Finance.
“Now Express Pay doesn’t even have the capacity to build a monitoring platform. Express Pay is looking to go and use a cloud computing, a serverless cloud computing system in Northern Ireland by Amazon web services (AWS). They are now trying to see how well they can rope in, to also help them do some part of the revenue assurance.”
The statement was first made in 2022, where Sam George criticized the government’s decision to outsource a project to Express Pay, questioning the company’s capacity to deliver.
The resurfacing of this video in 2025, after his ministerial nomination and referring to him as an “excellent programmer and software engineer,” when he is known to be a trained agricultural (soil and land) engineer meant the caption sarcastically implied that his technical critique in the video equated to expertise in software engineering, a deliberate exaggeration.
Ato Forson and the road tolls controversy
In the case of Finance Minister, Cassiel Ato Forson, the recirculation of a video did not come with any attempt to spin a misleading narrative per se but rather a way of pointing out his shifting stance and doublespeak on the issue of road tolls.
On January 13, 2025, (the very same day Ato Forson appeared before the vetting committee), the NPP Project Bureau shared a video on Facebook comparing statements by Ato Forson from 2021 and 2025.
The video was captioned “Road tolls: Ato Forson 2021 vs Ato Forson 2025. Dishonest people hungry for power. Ghanaians were scammed by the NDC.”
GhanaFact checks revealed that Ato Forson made the initial statement during a discussion on The Big Budget Debate – PM Express programme on Joy News on November 17, 2021, where he supported and commended the then government for removing road tolls. He argued that the revenue generated was minimal compared to the costs incurred from traffic-related fuel consumption.
The video captured him saying; “Well, the revenue loss would be about 72 million (Ghana cedis), it is not that big. So I have always said that road tolls out there should be removed, because, the amount of money in terms of fuel that will burn on the traffic, as against the revenue the government gets, I do not think it’s worthwhile.
“So I think it is something that I will say, that it is something that all of us are expecting. It is right that they have taken the decision and I will commend them for that.” (9 minutes 16 seconds to 10 minutes 4 seconds)
Meanwhile, during his ministerial vetting in 2025, Ato Forson, appeared to contradict his earlier position, as he emphasised the NDC had always intended to reinstate road tolls.
He said: “Chairman, the NDC indicated from day one that the road toll will come back, we are not running away from it. In fact, the Honorable Haruna Iddrisu, at the time, the Minority Leader said that the NDC promised to bring back the road toll, the Hansard will bear us out.
“We have not run away from that fact. So, I can assure you we are a party that sticks to our promises and whatever we have promised to do, we will do just that. If the road toll is the way to raise revenue, we will raise the revenue.
“And the road toll, if you use the road you will have to pay a toll and is all over the world, Ghana won’t be the first country, we won’t be the last one. You have to contribute towards the road maintenance ….”(2 hours:05 minutes:10 seconds to 2 hours 6 minutes 49 seconds).
Public Reaction
The resurfaced video of Ato Forson’s 2021 remarks caused a stir on social media, with many accusing him of inconsistency. Critics highlighted the inconsistency in his before and after position on tolls, questioning whether his current stance is influenced by political convenience rather than economic realities.
Supporters, however, defended his position, arguing that the government’s financial situation had evolved since 2021, indicating the economic pressures of 2025 necessitated revisiting policies that were previously deemed ineffective, including road tolls.
Conclusion
This report highlights how old videos are selectively reshared to shape public perceptions of nominees and in some instances to drive hostile narratives. While they provide insight into past statements, they are often re-shared without context, and may not reflect the current opinions or position of people in public office.
It’s also a known tactic used by bad actors in disinformation to achieve a certain aim.
By Nusrat Essah and Gifty Danso
