Fact-check: Has Kufuor warned Ghanaians against voting for President Akufo-Addo?

Claim

“Do not VOTE for Akufo-Addo he is a violent leader. Ex Prez Kufuor warn Ghanaians“ – Facebook user

Three persons, the spokesperson of Kufour, the CEO of the KufuorFoundation and the presidential lead to Kufuor have all refuted the claim being attributed to the former president.

Full text

Amidst viral claims during the Coronavirus pandemic, are also a number of political claims, not out of place in an election year in Ghana. One of such is a Facebook post which purports that a former president of Ghana, John Agyekum Kufuor, has cautioned Ghanaians not to vote for the sitting president, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo because he is a violent man.

The claim, which was posted on 28 April 2020, shows a photo of Kufuor pointing a finger while speaking with the caption “Do not VOTE for Akufo Addo he is a violent leader. Ex Prez Kufuor warn Ghanaians. Do no VOTE for violent person to lead us. I warned you.”


Source: Facebook.com

The post had garnered 31 reactions and seven comments at the time this fact-check was being written. Four out of the seven comments were by users who challenged the truthfulness of the post and the others by the claimant who tried to reinforce his claim.

It has also been shared 196 times mostly by users, who like the claimant, appear to be sympathisers of the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC).

Verification

Dubawa contacted the Special Aide and Spokesperson of the former president, Dr Kwabena Osei Aduboafo, who said that the claim is false. He added that the former president does not have social media accounts on Facebook and Instagram. Therefore, persons posting from such accounts in his name are impostors.

“This is never true. In fact, Kufuor doesn’t have a personal Facebook and Instagram account. Anyone posting from such accounts is not him.” Dr Aduboafo said.

Dubawa also contacted the CEO of the Kufuor Foundation, Dr Baffour Agyemang Duah, who equally debunked the claim.

“Kufuor has not spoken. He is minding his own business. Whoever posted that must be referring to the last elections in 2008 when there was a little friction between Kufuor’s camp and Akufo-Addo’s camp. And this was 10 years ago. I see Kufour at least once a week and I can say, he hasn’t said that. This is completely false.” Dr. Agyemang Duah said.

Mr Adu-Acheampong, the presidential lead and Special Aide to the former president, also confirmed to Dubawa that the claim is false.

“This is not true. Kufour will never say that,” Mr Adu-Acheampong said.

Conclusion

The claim by a Facebook user that Kufuor is warning Ghanaians not to vote for Akufo-Addo because he is violent, is false.

The spokesperson to the former president, Dr Aduboafo; the CEO of the Kufuor Foundation, Dr Agyemang Duah; and the presidential lead to the former president, Mr Adu- Acheampong, have all stated that the former president has not said that thereby debunking the claim. And no mainstream media published any such statement from Kufour.