Claim: A viral TikTok audio allegedly features Mahamudu Bawumia, NPP presidential candidate, calling Ghanaians weak-minded and promising to deceive them into winning the upcoming election.
Verdict: False.
Explanation
The Ghana Fact-checking Coalition compared the viral TikTok audio to five of Mr Bawumia’s past YouTube speeches, and it revealed significant discrepancies.
The audio features unnatural pitch variations and a polished accent that diverges from his typical speaking style, suggesting manipulation.
The Hiya Deepfake Voice Detector tool also rated the audio as 80 per cent likely to be a deepfake.
Experts from the Ghana Fact-checking Coalition concluded that the audio likely stems from voice-cloning technology, such as Resemble AI, which can generate synthetic speech from text scripts.
Source: Ghana Fact-Checking Coalition