Fact-check: Sir-Obama Pokuase’s viral gun photo is not linked to Ghana

The Ghana Police Service has granted bail to Daniel Adomako, popularly known as Sir Obama Pokuase, after arresting him for a controversial Facebook post. In the post, made on August 5, 2025, Sir-Obama claimed that under the leadership of Inspector General of Police Christian Tetteh Yohonu, some Ghanaian civilians were in possession of MG3 machine guns.

The post, which featured a striking image of the weapon, quickly stirred online attention, attracting 205 reactions, 103 comments, and 14 shares. Sir-Obama Pokuase’s arrest, according to the police statement, is “part of ongoing intelligence-led operations by the Police and other security agencies aimed at dismantling networks involved in the illegal possession and display of sophisticated weapons.”

But a closer look reveals a very different story. Fact-Check Ghana conducted a Google reverse image search and discovered that the photograph in question is far from new. It is a photo of the German machine gun, MG3, which first appeared on Wikimedia Commons on August 17, 2008, and has subsequently resurfaced on many security and military ammunition platforms at different times. On March 27, 2022, it appeared in a report in a report by the Army Recognition Group, a military news aggregator, about Germany’s approval of ammunition supplies, including MG3 machine guns, to Ukraine in the early stages of the Russia-Ukraine war.

The Belgium-based site described the MG3 as a “German-made MG3 7.62mm calibre machine gun, the enhanced version of the World War II MG42.” Another defence and military news platform, bulgarianmilitary.com, published the same image and confirmed its origins.

In conclusion, while Sir-Obama’s post ignited public concern and triggered swift police intervention, the MG3 photo he posted is not linked to any Ghanaian civilian. Instead, it is a 16-year-old image published by Wikimedia about the German machine gun.