Claim: A trending video shows NDC Chairperson Johnson Asiedu Nketia allegedly stating that the NDC will cancel the Free SHS policy if elected in 2024. He suggested the policy is unsustainable.
Verdict: False! Johnson Asiedu Nketia did not say that the NDC party plans to cancel the Free SHS policy if elected into power in the upcoming elections. DUBAWA’s investigations reveal that the video was edited and framed to distort Johnson Asiedu Nketia’s utterances concerning the free SHS policy and the double-track system.
Full Text
A video has been circulating specifically on TikTok showing Johnson Asiedu Nketia, the National Chairman of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), informing the public that the NDC will cancel the free SHS policy when they come into power. This video has accumulated over 474,900 views, 16,500 likes, over 6,000 shares, and over 1,000 comments.
This has sparked discussions and comments about the NDC’s political intentions; while some users say the video has been doctored, other social media users have decided to vote to keep the free SHS policy running.
Since its inception in September 2017, the Free Senior High School policy has been the subject of national discussion, with comments for or against the policy sparking continuous debates in the nation’s media space. DUBAWA decided to look into the authenticity of this video as several commenters suggested it had been manipulated.
Verification
The researcher first conducted a keyword search on the subject. The findings revealed
that several news outlets had reported on Mr Asiedu Nketia’s activities in the Ashanti Region. Still, none had reported that he announced the abolition of the free SHS policy.
The researcher also found reports of Johnson Asiedu Nketia accusing the NPP of sabotaging his campaign by doctoring his video.
The researcher also carefully studied the full-length video and discovered that the footage circulating had been framed and re-edited to misinterpret what Mr Johnson Asiedu Nketia said.
In the full-length video, Asiedu Nketia explains how the NDC will review the free SHS policy and cancel the double-track schooling system, saying,
“The Free Senior High School Policy is good, but we [NDC] will not leave it in the state it’s in. We will review it. We will make changes to it. This change we intend to make is the reason the NPP is going about claiming we[NDC] will cancel it.”
“He went on to say that they [NPP] have arranged the school system like a traffic light—red track, yellow track and green track. As for that one, no matter what they do, when the NDC comes into power, we will cancel that track, track system.”
This was during a political rally in the Ashanti region.
Following the circulation of the video claiming he announced the NDC would cancel the free SHS policy, Mr Asiedu Nketia has, in another video, publicly refuted the claim, saying, “Everything I say is recorded by the media and even streamed live on Facebook for all to see.”
Other media spaces like Citinews and Joy News Checks also debunked the claim of the viral video.
Conclusion
Based on the above search and findings, the video circulation about NDC’s Johnson Aiedu Nkeitah abolishing the free SHS when elected into power is false. DUBAWA’s investigations reveal that the video was edited and framed to distort Johnson Asiedu Nketia’s utterances concerning the free SHS policy and the double-track system.