A Case Study.
This case study, undertaken by Edward Adeti of Media Without Borders, takes a look at how disinformation and false narratives are being used as a tool by some actors in coordinated campaigns to discredit some journalists in Ghana.
The study focuses on two Ghanaian journalists— Anas Aremeyaw Anas and Erastus Asare Donkor.
It shows the channels being used to disseminate the false narratives and the effects of the disinformation campaigns on the actors’ targets.
Such campaigns require concrete and rapid countermeasures from stakeholders to protect the interests of watchdog journalists and the interest of the society in which they live and work.
Introduction
Ghana is widely regarded as a torchbearer of democracy in Africa.
After gaining independence in 1957 from the British colonial rule, Ghana experienced years of different military regimes. The country returned to a multiparty democracy in 1992 under a new constitution that liberalised its media landscape, which hitherto was controlled by the government.
The liberalisation of the media landscape encouraged the establishment of private media outlets whose numbers have grown significantly over time and many of whom are owned and controlled by politicians.
The use of disinformation in campaigns against people in Ghana is far older than the country itself. But the phenomenon took root in recent times in the country as a result of the introduction and surge in social media or digital platforms, which allow people to receive and share all kinds of information at an unprecedented rate. And it is more pronounced every year the country is set to go to the polls.
Disinformation, defined by the European Commission (EU) as “highly persuasive or misleading information created, presented and disseminated for economic gain or to intentionally deceive the public, and can cause public harm”, has remained a serious threat to Ghana’s young democracy.
The spread of false narratives or disinformation is mostly attributed to social media users, influencers, the mainstream media, politicians and members of political parties in the country.
There have been instances where disinformation actors create conspiracy theories around the health of some politicians ahead of elections basically to cause damage to the electoral prospects of their targets.
It is common to see videos or images of electoral violence being circulated deliberately on social media platforms on an election day just to discourage people from going out to vote.
Such videos or images may have been taken during an election held in the past in a different African country but redistributed now in Ghana on an election day to mislead voters into believing that violence has broken out in a particular constituency or at a particular polling station.
It is part of a disinformation campaign waged by a political party against a rival particularly in areas where the disinformation actors are less popular. The aim is to reduce voter turnout on an election day in such areas to the advantage of the disinformation actors.
It is also common in this day and age to encounter handbills on social media platforms where false statements are attributed to some public figures, business entities or public officeholders in the country with the aim of rendering the targets less appealing to the public.
In October, 2022, a blogger named Jeffrey Epprim Nyame published fake news on his portal called reportghana.net with the headline: “Dollar account holders to get cedi at BoG rate for bank withdrawals effective 31st October?”
The fake news incident, which was one of the most grievous of its kind in the history of disinformation and false narratives in Ghana, caused fear and panic among dollar account holders and triggered panic withdrawals at several banks in the country.
The blogger was arrested with an accomplice, prosecuted and jailed 30 days in August, 2024, after the Bank of Ghana alerted the police to that false publication in 2022. [1]
On Saturday, 23 November 2024, the Ghana Police Service arrested a radio and television presenter, Oheneba Nana Asiedu, in Kumasi, the capital of the Ashanti region of Ghana, for disinformation [2]. The arrest took place about two weeks to the country’s general elections slated for Saturday, 7 December 2024.
The Wontumi FM presenter misleadingly told the public during a live programme that the presidential election would be conducted on two separate days. The police said his action could disturb the public peace because the election was scheduled to take place only on December 7.
Similarly, some politicians and political party supporters wage strong disinformation campaigns against journalists in Ghana.
Unfortunately, many people do not know how to verify the information they receive and, as a result, often believe the false information created and circulated by the actors.
The three Ds disinformation actors rely on
The aim of the actors is not only to discredit the journalists and shape public perception against them but also to destroy their self-confidence and ruin their careers.
The disinformation actors employ these four Ds to run their campaigns: Dismissal, Distortion, Distraction and Dismay.
1. Dismissal is when the disinformation actors publicly criticise and reject every piece of work the journalists do.
2. Distortion is when the actors twist or falsify the work the journalists do.
3. Distraction is when the journalists expose any wrongdoing and the disinformation actors accuse the journalists of committing the same wrongdoing. For example, when a journalist exposes a bribery scandal, the disinformation actors falsely tell the public that the same journalist has been taking bribes.
4. Dismay is another mode of disinformation the actors often employ by issuing or inciting threats of harm against journalists.
Disinformation campaign against Anas Aremeyaw Anas
Anas Aremeyaw Anas, the founder of a private investigative network called Tiger Eye P.I, has remained Africa’s best-known and most celebrated journalist for nearly two decades.
His tremendous popularity is grounded in the unequalled impact of his work across the continent.
But he has been a target for a ceaseless disinformation campaign in his West African home country, Ghana.
The disinformation campaign, involving several actors, is being led by a prominent business mogul and a former Member of Parliament (MP) for Assin Central, a constituency in southern Ghana, Kennedy Ohene Agyapong.
Agyapong is a top member of the political party that lost power at the election held just last month in Ghana— the New Patriotic Party (NPP).
The NPP was in power from January 7, 2017, to January 7, 2025.
The former legislator is so powerful in the party he could say anything even against the immediate-past president of Ghana and a leading member of the NPP, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, and get away with it.
Until January 6, 2025, Agyapong was the chairman of the Defence and Interior Committee of Ghana’s parliament. He owns a television station (Net 2 TV) among other media outlets which he mostly uses to wage his disinformation campaign against Anas.
Anas branded ‘public enemy’ by Agyapong
Agyapong launched his disinformation campaign against Anas using the “Dismissal” approach in March, 2018.
Anas had completed an undercover investigation into football corruption in several African countries including Ghana at the time and was about to premiere the work in Ghana’s capital, Accra.
Agyapong told Ghanaians during a live television programme that Anas’ undercover method of investigation should be stopped and he should not be allowed to premiere his documentary film on a scandal at the Ghana Football Association (GFA) dubbed “Number 12”. [3]
“Do you think Anas has the right to do what he is doing? Do you think so? We should be careful the way things are going. We kept quiet over the judges’ issue. Now he is at GFA. Tomorrow it could be you or me. He could be in your bedroom whilst you are asleep with your wife,” he stated.
Then, he added this:
I totally disagree with his approach. Somebody should take him to court right now to stop him from what he is doing. You want to premiere this? We have to stop him or else, he will end up one day recording you whilst you are asleep with your wife and premiere it in public.
‘Anas is an extortionist, a blackmailer’— Agyapong
In September, 2018, Agyapong continued his disinformation crusade against Anas using the “Distraction” ploy.
Just hours before the documentary was due for the much-awaited premiere, Agyapong publicly accused Anas of corruption and tax evasion. [4] [5] [6]
He told the public on Adom FM, a radio station based in Ghana’s capital, Accra:
“We must confront Anas for the bad things he did to Ghanaians. He amassed wealth during his investigations,” he stated.
“We have to hang Anas for the evil things he has done to Ghanaians in the course of his investigations, which he has used to amass wealth in Ghana. If I tell somebody he is corrupt, I should make sure I am genuine before I point my finger at someone.”
On Tuesday, 29 May 2018, he attacked Anas on Adom TV, saying:
I will stick my neck on the line for Ghanaians and the innocent people he has destroyed over the years. It’s too much. The guy is not genuine. He’s blackmailing people. He’s [an] extortionist, taking money from people. He’s evil. He’s a blackmailer.
Despite the disinformation campaign, Anas premiered the documentary film, leading to not only arrests, dismissals and criminal trials of some top football officials involved in the scandal but also a wave of public anger against the NPP government.
The biggest name among the officials who were arrested and sacked was the President of the Ghana Football Association (GFA) and a member of the then-governing NPP, Kwesi Nyantakyi.
Ahmed Hussein-Suale: Threats and assassination
Agyapong continued his disinformation campaign, switching the war against Anas to the “Dismay” line of attack.
Speaking on his private television station Net 2 TV in June, 2018, Agyapong called on the members of the public to attack Anas and the members of his investigative team if they spotted them.
While encouraging the public to attack Anas and members of his investigative team, the then-lawmaker also displayed on Net 2 TV some images he claimed were Anas’ faces. The pictures looked different from one another and none of them was the true face of Anas. [7]
Among the pictures he shared on the television was the image of a member of Anas’ investigative network, Ahmed Hussein-Suale Divela.
About six months later, Ahmed Suale was shot three times (twice in the chest and once in the neck) in his car in Accra by some unidentified men on motorbikes.
Although there is no evidence that Agyapong hired those hit men, many believe the journalist was assassinated because Agyapong incited the public against him and showed his pictures on the television.
The world reacts to Hussein-Suale’s murder
Hussein-Suale’s coldblooded murder triggered a global wave of condemnation against the former lawmaker.
The Minority in Parliament convened a press conference in the wake of the journalist’s assassination and called for Agyapong’s arrest and prosecution.
“It is on this basis that we state that Mr. Agyapong appears to bear some criminal responsibility for the death of Ahmed for instigating the public to cause harm to Anas for monetary reward,” the Minority said. [8]
On January 18, 2019, a U.S Congressman, Henry C. “Hank” Johnson, wrote a letter to former U.S Secretary of State, Mike Pompeo, asking the U.S government to sanction Agyapong for urging “violence against the journalist prior to his murder.” [9]
The letter reads in part:
Suspect promises to reward any informant who assists police to arrest suspects
A week after Hussein-Suale’s killing, the Ghana Police Service (GPS) said it interrogated Agyapong and Nyantakyi (mentioned earlier) and took statements from them in connection with the murder. [10]
Subsequently, Agyapong offered a bounty of Gh¢100,000 (an equivalent of $6,300 in January, 2025) for anybody who could assist in finding the assassins. But the unexpected gesture was seen to be another “Distraction” ploy employed by Agyapong.
Hussein-Suale’s family reacted to that offer at a news conference [11] in February, 2019, saying:
The family holds the view that the decision of Mr Agyapong to place Gh¢100,000 bounty on the killers of our late son is not only deceptive but an exacerbated obstruction to divert the attention of the general public and change the face of the ongoing investigation by the security agencies.
We are really offended by this act of Kennedy Agyapong and decry same. It is an insult to the conscience of the family that a man who called for harm to be visited on our son would only turn around a few months down the line after that call for harm has been overly subscribed, to say, he is placing a bounty on the head of those who may have acted on his call or gotten leads thereby to carry out the act.
‘Government officials begged me to destroy Anas’— Agyapong reveals coordinated disinformation campaign
In March, 2019, Agyapong revealed on Oman FM, a private radio station in Accra, that he was contracted by government to “destroy” Anas. [12]
“After mounting a spirited defence for the party against undercover journalist Anas Aremeyaw Anas, I was disgraced in parliament like a child. Look at how the party is using me and eventually will disgrace me. I have had enough and I am quitting, I am telling you in plain words.
“Before the Anas video came out, those who had the chance to preview it were alarmed and knew it [would] put the party in a bad light. They sent emissaries to my house at dawn to go and defend the party; thereafter they disgraced me in parliament,” he said.
In the midst of it all, Agyapong also emerged in a video where he confided a secret to someone during a private meeting that the president of Ghana (Akufo-Addo) was backing his campaign against Anas.
The location of that meeting is unknown. But it is a well-known fact that Akufo-Addo never fulfilled the promise he made— before he became president— to fight corruption through what he called “The Anas Principle.”
Anas rather suffered the worst threats under Akufo-Addo government and former Special Prosecutor, Martin Amidu who was reportedly restrained by Akufo-Addo from exposing and prosecuting corrupt government officials, resigned and classified the president himself as the “Mother Serpent of Corruption.”
In 2020, a Net 2 Television presenter and close associate of Agyapong, Justice Kweku Annan, was captured by an undercover camera taking money to wage what was a coordinated disinformation campaign against Anas.
He received the money from an individual who posed as a relative of one of the officials exposed in Anas’ documentary on football corruption in Ghana.
Kweku Annan, in self-defence, claimed the money he was filmed receiving was a “commitment fee” paid by an agent to help uncover more information on Anas’ dealings. [13]
Subsequently, Annan described Anas and his mentor, Abdul-Malik Kweku Baako, as “crooks and blackmailers” on Kingdom FM, a private media house in Accra.
On September 1, 2021, Agyapong claimed on Net 2 TV that U.S Congressman Hank Johnson apologised to him for the sanction letter he wrote to the U.S government against him.
His claim was captured and circulated on social media platforms, particularly those affiliated to his political party, in support of his campaign against Anas.
But the congressman countered Agyapong’s statement on September 2, 2021, in a press release:
“Mr. Agyapong’s assertion that I apologized to him in any way or told him what a great job he was doing is a lie. Not only do I stand by my original letter to the State Department in 2019 about the murder of heroic journalist Ahmed Hussein-Suale who exposed corruption at the highest levels of Ghanaian football — and Mr. Agyapong’s possible complicity in that crime — but I thank the good member of Parliament for renewing my interest in this case and look forward to vigorously engaging with a new U.S. Administration to look further into the matter.”
On August 15, 2023, Agyapong told Umaru Sanda Amadu, a famous broadcast journalist, on Channel One (formerly Citi TV) in Accra, that he did not regret urging the public to attack Hussein-Suale if they found him [14].
He also told the BBC he did not regret showing Hussein-Suale’s pictures publicly [15].
During his interview on Citi TV on August 15, 2023, Agyapong denied he incited the public against Hussein-Suale. He claimed he only instructed his staff at Net 2 TV to beat the journalist if they spotted him around the premises of the television station. [16].
But a report published by FactCheckGhana on August 17, 2023, proved Agyapong’s claim to be false.
Quoting excerpts of Agyapong’s comments on Net 2 TV, FactCheckGhana’s report affirmed that the lawmaker incited the public against Anas, Hussein-Suale and the other members of Anas’ investigative team. [17].
In November, 2023, a former Member of Parliament, Frederick Opare Ansah, revealed in an interview with Umaru Sanda Amadu on Citi TV (now Channel One) that Agyapong confided in him in 2022 that he (Agyapong) was contracted by government to wage a disinformation campaign against Anas. [18].
“Kennedy told me in the house of the man I said I am protecting his identity that he was given a contract to go after Anas and that now he has finished the job [but] the minister of finance is not paying him. This was in September 2022 and if the finance minister doesn’t pay him he has a video of a minister of state taking bribes in Dubai, he would release it,” Ansah said.
When Nyantakyi, whose political affiliation was not known in public, suddenly joined the NPP parliamentary primary election as an aspirant for the Ejisu constituency by-election in 2024, many Ghanaians had their doubts finally cleared that the Agyapong-led disinformation attacks on Anas were rooted in his exposé on a key member of the then-governing party embroiled in football corruption.
There are also some NPP-affiliated social media accounts where some individuals do, in solidarity with notable figures who speak ill of Anas, post and share false contents that depict him in a bad light. One of such platforms is a Facebook account named “President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo Addo.”
‘Anas is fake, dishonest, unprofessional’— Dr. Nyahoe-Tamakloe
Another actor involved in the disinformation campaign against Anas is called Dr. Nyahoe Nyahoe-Tamakloe.
He is one of the founding members of the same political party Agyapong aligns with. But unlike Agyapong, Nyahoe-Tamakloe has been running his disinformation campaign with the “Dismissal” and the “Distortion” approach against Anas.
Like Agyapong, Dr. Nyahoe-Tamakloe’s disinformation campaign against Anas began after Anas’ documentary on the GFA corruption led to Nyantakyi’s arrest and dismissal as the GFA President.
Dr. Nyahoe-Tamakloe said Nyantakyi would have become the first African FIFA president but for the investigation Anas conducted into the GFA corruption. [19]
“Nyantakyi would have been the first Black man to head FIFA if the Anas exposé hadn’t happened,” he told Bola Ray on Starr FM.
Dr. Nyahoe-Tamakloe has consistently described Anas as “dishonest”, “unprofessional” and “fake” in his disinformation campaign since that exposé by Anas on widespread corruption within Ghanaian football exposed Nyantakyi in 2018. [20] [21] [22] [23] [24] [25] [26]
‘He should be beaten seriously’— Agyapong attacks Erastus Asare Donkor
Erastus Asare Donkor is a broadcast, environmental and investigative journalist working in Ghana with Joy FM, a subsidiary of the Multimedia Group Limited.
The multi-award winning journalist, who was adjudged the Best Journalist in Ghana in 2023, has been a target for disinformation campaign by Kennedy Ohene Agyapong, the same former lawmaker mentioned earlier.
Donkor went into hiding in 2021 after Agyapong appeared on Net 2 Television on July 9, 2021, accused him of reporting falsehoods and said he “should be beaten seriously.”
Donkor feared he might be assassinated just as Hussein-Suale was shot and killed a few months after Agyapong publicly said he should be beaten.
Agyapong, who is employing “Dismissal” and “Dismay” tactics in his disinformation campaign on Donkor, also stated during that programme that he “would get people to beat him (Donkor) up” if he was president. Agyapong keenly ran for presidential candidate of the NPP but finished behind the vice-president and eventual winner of that internal election, Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia.
The basis of Agyapong’s July 9 attack was a live report Donkor gave on Joy FM on June 29, 2021, about military officers’ alleged shooting of some anti-government protesters at Ejura, a district in Ghana’s Ashanti Region. The alleged shooting resulted in at least two civilian deaths, according to Donkor.
State authorities set up a committee to investigate the shooting and invited Donkor. When the committee asked Donkor why his coverage of the anti-government protest featured the hashtag #fixthecountry, he replied that he could not control whatever his editors added to the footage he shared from the field. [27]
“That journalist and the stupid answers he gave,” Agyapong called out on Net 2 Television with fury. “It’s so annoying. We should beat the hell out of him. Look at the false report from Joy FM.”
On July 13, 2021, Multimedia Group Limited filed a complaint with Ashanti Regional Command of the Ghana Police Service against Agyapong regarding the threats he issued on Donkor’s life. [28]
The Ghana Journalists Association (GJA) did not take the threat lightly. At a press conference held on July 14, 2021, the GJA President at the time, Roland Affail Monney, said: “It can be a fatal gamble to toy with the threats against the life of Erastus Asare Donkor.”
“He [Kennedy Agyapong] is known for his plain talk and verbal jabs, so some may be inclined to dismiss the video in question as a normal rendition of his unrestrained comments and emotional outburst. However, the hard truth is that Hon. Agyapong’s comments ignite serious concerns relative to the most tragic circumstances of the assassination of Ahmed Suale of Tiger-Eye PI two and half years ago,” Monney stated. [29]
On July 16, 2021, the Ashanti Regional Police Command announced it had commenced investigations into the threats issued by Agyapong on Donkor’s life. [30]
The outcome of those investigations remains unknown and Donkor, who suffered an attack from some armed men in October, 2024, at a mining site in the Ashanti region, has remained a subject of abuse and threats at the hands of a remorseless Agyapong.
Conclusion
It is evident that disinformation actors employ four different modes— Dismissal, Distortion, Distraction and Dismay— in their ceaseless attempts to:
- destroy the credibility of watchdog journalists in Ghana,
- discredit their good work,
- manipulate public opinion against them,
- ruin their reputations,
- intimidate them,
- stop them from holding public officeholders accountable in pursuance of democracy and good governance,
- and end their careers.
The actors and their allies use both mainstream media outlets and social media platforms at their disposal and leverage interviews to wage disinformation campaigns against their targets.
As shown in the case study and revealed by one of the main actors involved, the campaigns against the journalists (Anas Aremeyaw Anas for example) are coordinated generally to protect wrongdoers and to serve the interest of a political party, an individual, a government or a group. One of the actors confessed in public that he was hired by a government to destroy Anas.
The disinformation actors consistently seek to portray the journalists as villains and depict themselves and those they speak for as victims through false narratives. Their campaigns have devastating consequences not only on the credibility, wellbeing and lives of their targets (critical journalists) but also on public opinion and democracy (a system of government to which critical or watchdog journalism is very important).
The disinformation campaigns waged by politicians against journalists in Ghana thrive and worsen because the actors, particularly those whose political party is in power, enjoy impunity and they often shrewdly hire or recruit compromised or self-seeking journalists to fight genuine journalists. The public thinks such impunity is the reason some lawless lawmakers are above the law.
Many also believe that some judges personally loathe Anas today and are also waging a coordinated, strong disinformation campaign against him in solidarity with their colleagues who lost their jobs through his 2013 exposé on judicial corruption in Ghana.
It, therefore, comes as no surprise to such people when Anas loses any court case that he is expected to win in the country.
The big shots who are involved in these disinformation campaigns and their followers are a serious threat to the journalists who are shedding and holding the spotlight on corruption and social ills in Ghana.
As long as those big shots are free to do what they love to do and they go unpunished for their disinformation campaigns, the good journalists in Ghana will continue to pay with their happiness, health, fortunes, freedoms, dreams, peace of mind, reputations and even their lives— like Ahmed Hussein-Suale— for speaking truth to power, for fighting injustice, for standing for fairness, for choosing the side of the oppressed, for switching the spotlight on human rights transgressions and for protecting democracy.
References
1. https://www.myjoyonline.com/blogger-jailed-for-publishing-false-news/
3. https://3news.com/news/lets-stop-anas-before-he-gets-into-our-bedrooms-kennedy-agyapong-pleads-2/
5. https://citinewsroom.com/2018/06/corrupt-anas-deserves-to-be-hanged-kennedy-agyapong/
7. https://yen.com.gh/110845-kennedy-agyapong-shares-photos-anas.html
8. https://citinewsroom.com/2019/01/arrest-ken-agyapong-and-prosecute-him-over-ahmeds-murder-minority/
10. https://citinewsroom.com/2019/01/nyantakyi-ken-agyapong-interrogated-over-ahmed-suale-killing/
12. https://starrfm.com.gh/2019/03/govt-officials-begged-me-to-destroy-anas-ken-agyapong/
13. https://www.modernghana.com/news/1002425/anas-12-again-ken-agyapong-boy-admits-pocketing.html
14. https://citinewsroom.com/2023/08/ive-no-regret-over-call-to-beat-up-ahmed-suale-ken-agyapong/
16. https://citinewsroom.com/2023/08/ive-no-regret-over-call-to-beat-up-ahmed-suale-ken-agyapong/
20. https://ghanasoccernet.com/anas-aremeyaw-anas-is-fake-he-can-easily-be-bribed-nyaho-tamakloe
23. https://ghanaguardian.com/anas-is-not-an-honest-man-his-work-is-not-genuine-nyaho-nyaho-tamakloe
25. https://www.instagram.com/ghonetv/reel/C_SggQVK7LT/
26. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1n6khOxQaxI
30. https://www.faapa.info/en/police-investigate-alleged-threats-on-journalists-life/
Source: Edward Adeti/Media Without Borders/mwbonline.org/Ghana
