Claim: Kevin Taylor accuses President Mahama of being Bawku violence mastermind, failing to speak on it
Source: Social Media
Verdict: Misleading
Researched by Nusrat Essah
On July 27, 2025, a video was shared on X with captions suggesting that a United States-based political commentator, Kevin Taylor, has accused President John Dramani Mahama of being behind the killings in Bawku.
The 19-second video clip has a caption: “Kevin Taylor blames Mahama for Bawku deaths,” written across it, while multiple social media users on X and TikTok shared it with captions, including;
“President has refused to speak on the killings happening in Bawku because he is the one behind it – Kevin Taylor confirms.”
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In the video, Kevin Taylor is heard saying: “The President of the Republic has refused to speak on it (the violence) because he is behind it. It is his hometown where people are being killed, he has refused to speak on it. Ask yourself, why? This government weaponised those with guns in Bawku.”
The post has gained over 45,000 views, 70 comments, 511 likes and 58 reposts as of the time of this report.
Fact-Check
Using the InVID Verification tool and Google Reverse Image Search, GhanaFact traced the video to the Facebook page of With All Due Respect- Loud Silence Media on October 31, 2024, weeks before the 2024 general elections.
At the time of the live stream of the programme, Ghana was still governed by the previous NPP administration led by President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo and Vice President Mahamudu Bawumia.
In the original video posted on Kevin Taylor’s channels, he criticised the then NPP government, not the current NDC government.
“How can they kill 17 people in less than 72 hours while the President of the Republic has refused to speak on it? Ask yourself why, because he is behind it. The Vice President, who today wants to be President of Ghana, is campaigning around the nation; it is his hometown where people are being killed.
“He has refused to speak on it; ask yourself why. Because Mahamudu Bawumia and the NPP are the ones there killing the Kusasis,” he said. (1hour:46 mins:10 secs to 1 hour:46 mins:40 secs)
From the full transcript, it is also clear that the original clip was edited to take out the part about former Vice President Mahamudu Bawumia, who Taylor had accused of looking on as his hometown suffered a security crisis.
This context makes it clear that the “President” referred to in the video was Akufo-Addo, and not Mahama, who at the time was the opposition NDC’s presidential flagbearer.
Has President Mahama failed to comment on the raging Bawku conflict?
Contrary to a portion of the viral claim that President Mahama has refused to speak on the ongoing conflict, GhanaFact found that the president has publicly addressed the Bawku conflict on several occasions.
Following his inauguration, President Mahama’s first official mission outside Accra was a peace visit to Bawku and Nalerigu on January 14, 2025, pledging his commitment to help resolve the age-old Bawku conflict and bring peace.
Speaking at the Zug-raan Palace in Bawku, he said: “I know that my father has not been sleeping because of what is happening in Bawku and what is happening in Walewale, which is giving him sleepless nights. During the campaign, I promised peace would be one of my major priorities.”
In his address during the 68th Independence Day Celebration on March 6, 2025, President Mahama called for an end to the conflict in Bawku.
“The people of Bawku and other areas, it is time for lasting peace to prevail. Our children deserve to inherit a peaceful land where their dreams are nurtured, not where their nightmares are relived. They deserve to inherit a land where our markets are bustling with trade, not tension and conflict.
“They deserve to inherit schools that echo with learning and not melancholy. Let us not be swayed by division, mistrust and the weight of past injuries. Let us give renewal of friendship and chance. Let us give peace a chance,” he said
Additionally, speaking during the courtesy visit of the Gonja King, Yagbonwura Bii-Kunuto Jewu Soale I, to the Jubilee House on July 30, 2025, President Mahama announced that he had directed the Ghana Armed Forces to transition from peacekeeping to active peace enforcement operations in Bawku.
“I take this occasion to appeal to our brothers and sisters, Kusasis and Mamprusis, to give peace a chance… And we have given the mediation efforts to Otumfuor and he has briefed me constantly on the progress that he has been making and we are almost there…
“As the army has announced, I have directed the army to move from peacekeeping to peace enforcement, that means they are going to be a bit more robust with anybody who is involved in criminality,” he said.
He has also spoken on the matter in subsequent public engagements (here here, and here)
This circulating video is from October 2024 when Mahama was not president, also the claim that Mahama has remained silent on the Bawku conflict is inaccurate.
Verdict
From the above, the video is misleading and the claim that Mahama has been silent on the conflict is False. The video has been recycled, doctored and deliberately shared to mislead the public.
The Bawku Conflict
For over two years, Bawku has been engulfed in a deadly ethnic and chieftaincy conflict. Hundreds of lives have been lost, and the violence has significantly disrupted socio-economic life in the region. (Read more in this GhanaFact report on the Bawku chieftaincy conflict here).
