On Monday, September 4, 2023, claims suggesting that the Former Chairman of the Electoral Commission, Dr. Kwadwo Afari-Gyan, has said he’s a member of the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) emerged on social media.
Interesting, Mr. Afari Gyan at the NDC Lawyer Retreats event this weekend stated categorically that he has always being an NDC member.. it’s unfortunate NDC as a political party continues to be a collection of hypocrites, @char_osei who was also once an NDC Parliament aspirant… pic.twitter.com/SQKtZ19Tpb
— Gen. Buhari (@Gen_Buhari_) September 4, 2023
The claims which were accompanied by a photo appeared to have quoted the former EC Chair, who supervised all presidential and parliamentary elections under the Fourth Republic until 2012, saying he has “always been an NDC member”.
The claims which have been shared by many handles and have been trending on social media alleged that Dr. Afari-Gyan made the claim when he spoke at the 3rd Annual Lawyers Conference organized by the NDC.
Fact-Check Ghana has verified the claim and presents the findings below.
Claim: “I have always been an NDC member- Afari Gyan.”
Verdict: Completely False
Explanation: Over the weekend, the NDC held its 3rd Annual Lawyers Conference in Akosombo in the Eastern region. Dr. Kwadwo Afari-Gyan was invited as one of the special guests of honour.
He spoke extensively about the country’s election history, and current happenings and urged the NDC to return back to the Inter-Party Advisory Committee (IPAC), a committee the party boycotted after the 2020 general elections.
In verifying the claim that has since been trending after the conference, the Fact-Check Ghana team combined numerous verification methods.
The photo of the claim which contained a picture of Dr. Afari-Gyan and some key executives of the NDC had the logo of an outlet called News Afrika. However, Fact-Check Ghana’s internet search found no digital footprint of the outlet.
Further checks also revealed no prominent media house has reported the claim.
The team also extensively analysed video footage from some media outlets that covered the conference and Dr. Afari-Gyan’s engagement throughout the event. The analysis found no evidence of the former EC chair making any statement that suggested he was an NDC member.
Fact-Check Ghana also interviewed some journalists who covered the conference. They all said the Former EC Chairman did not make such a statement at the event.
From the above, it is clear that Dr. Afari-Gyan did not say he was an NDC member.
