Flagbearer of the New Patriotic Party, Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia
A political communication analyst, Dr. Margaret Coomson, says the NDC's deliberate attempt to label the Vice President, Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia, has failed to make an impact because the NDC has consistently been proven wrong in "everything" it has accused Dr. Bawumia of lying about.
In an extensive piece analyzing the "orchestrated political labelling," Dr. Coomson recalled an investigative work by a research group, the African Academy for Open-Source Investigations (AAOSI), in conjunction with Joy FM, which published an exposé on how elements within the NDC plotted to label Bawumia a liar to limit his growing popularity in the political space.
However, Dr. Coomson analyzed that the NDC has not been able to effectively carry through its "negative plot" of branding Dr. Bawumia a liar in the eyes of "discerning Ghanaians."
Branding the NDC's effort as a "lazy and ineffective political communication approach," Dr. Coomson said the NDC's "sustained, but weak attempts" at calling Bawumia a liar "only excite the ears of the orchestrators and some base of the NDC" and have made no impact on tarnishing Bawumia because his image and popularity continue to soar.
Dr. Coomson concluded the analysis by providing 23 issues the NDC said Dr. Bawumia was lying about, but the Vice President turned out to be on the side of the truth, as he was vindicated in the end.
Below is the full analysis by Dr. Margaret Coomson
Why attempts by NDC to label Dr. Bawumia a liar have failed
By Dr. Margaret Coomson (Political Analyst)
In June last year, multiple publications released findings from research by the African Academy for Open-Source Investigations (AAOSI) in collaboration with Joy FM, which uncovered how the Communications Officer of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), Sammy Gyamfi, and hirelings affiliated with the NDC, planned and orchestrated organized tweets aimed at discrediting Vice President Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia.
The research, which was part of AAOSI's efforts to combat misinformation and strengthen democracy in Africa, delved into the origin of the deliberate labelling of Vice President Bawumia as a liar with a "#Bawuliar" hashtag created by the NDC to drive fake trends on Twitter.
The joint investigative work discovered that it was a coordinated plan by the NDC, led by its Communications Director, Sammy Gyamfi, through his Twitter handle @sammygyamfi2017, which the report said had metamorphosed to @SammyGyamfi.
Interestingly, the investigative work further revealed that the negative description of Bawumia as a liar was deliberately deployed by the NDC to paint Bawumia black and discredit him due to his growing threat to the NDC.
"During the investigation, we observed almost every comment the Vice President made about the economy was met with a spike in #Bawuliar tweets. This investigation looks into whether the trend of #Bawuliar is organic or an attempt orchestrated by political opponents to cast a slur on the credibility of Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia," the report said while exposing Sammy Gyamfi's orchestration.
"We identified Twitter user @sammygyamfi2017 as the second most influential account with respect to the #Bawuliar trend. @sammygyamfi2017, per our checks, used to be the username of the Twitter account of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), Sammy Gyamfi. Currently, the account’s username is @SammyGyamfi_. This is supported by the archived tweets on Wayback Machine, from when the account’s username used to be @sammygyamfi2017.
@SammyGyamfi has tweeted #Bawuliar 11 times. The top three #Bawuliar tweets were by @SammyGyamfi. The most popular #Bawuliar tweet was @SammyGyamfi’s reaction to Dr. Bawumia’s claim that Ghanaians could use the Ghana card as a travel document in lieu of a passport. The 12th February 2022 tweet described Dr. Bawumia as being allergic to the truth, with lies being embedded in his DNA. The tweet garnered 171 retweets and 727 likes.
"Our investigation revealed that @sammygyamfi2017 and @SammyGyamfi are both usernames that belong to the same Twitter account belonging to the communications director of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), Sammy Gyamfi. Thus, the username of the account was changed from @sammygyamfi2017 to @SammyGyamfi. This was confirmed by archived versions of tweets by the account from when its username used to be @sammygyamfi2017," the findings disclosed.
Clearly, the detailed research findings of the African Academy for Open-Source Investigations (AAOSI) expose the NDC and how ineffective their strategy has been.
The NDC, for over 5 years now, has tried everything possible to paint Bawumia as a liar to Ghanaians, yet Bawumia continues to endear himself and his popularity is rather on the ascendency.
In political communication, negative labeling is supposed to have a negative effect on the person being targeted, but in the case of the NDC and their labeling of Bawumia as a liar, it is obvious Bawumia is unaffected.
The more the likes of former President John Mahama's spokesperson, Joyce Moctari, spend time on their social media accounts calling Bawumia a liar, the cleaner and more popular he emerges.
In my own research and analysis, I have been asking myself how serious the NDC is in political communication when they call Bawumia a liar and they are unable to provide examples.
How do you label someone a liar when he has been vindicated in all the things you said he was lying about?
At the last count, I listed over 23 known issues which the NDC said Bawumia was lying about, but which the general public knew Bawumia was rather on the side of the truth, because the truth was obvious.
Below are some topical issues which the NDC said Bawumia was lying about, but time later exonerated him, thus exposing the NDC:
1. Dr. Bawumia said the Ghanacard could be used to travel from abroad into Ghana. The NDC said he was lying, but he has been proven right!
2. Dr. Bawumia said that he would introduce mobile money interoperability between bank accounts and momo accounts. The NDC said he was lying, but he has been proven right!
3. Dr. Bawumia said that through mobile money interoperability, every adult Ghanaian will be able to have a bank account. The NDC said he was lying, but he has been proven right!
4. Dr. Bawumia said Ghana was the first country in Africa to have mobile interoperability between momo and bank accounts. The NDC said he was lying, but he has been proven right!
5. Dr. Bawumia said he was going to introduce a Digital Address System to Ghana. The NDC said he was lying, but he has been proven right!
6. Dr. Bawumia said he was going to introduce the Zipline Drones to deliver medicines. The NDC said he was lying, but he has been proven right!
7. Dr. Bawumia said he was going to introduce an E-Pharmacy platform for all pharmacies in Ghana. The NDC said he was lying, but he has been proven right!
8. Dr. Bawumia said the government will network and digitalize medical records of patients in all teaching, regional, and district hospitals. The NDC said he was lying, but he has been proven right!
9. Dr. Bawumia said the government will issue tablets to all senior high school students. The NDC said he was lying, but he has been proven right!
10. Dr. Bawumia said the government will restore teacher and nursing trainee allowances. The NDC said he was lying, but he has been proven right!
11. Dr. Bawumia said the NPP will introduce Free Senior High School education. The NDC said he was lying, but he has been proven right!
12. Dr. Bawumia said the NPP will introduce Agenda 111. The NDC said he was lying, but he has been proven right!
13. Dr. Bawumia said the government will build hostels for Kayayei. The NDC said he was lying, but he has been proven right!
14. Dr. Bawumia said the government will introduce a rental assistance scheme to help people rent without having to pay one or two years in advance. The NDC said he was lying, but he has been proven right!
15. Dr. Bawumia said the government will introduce a Zongo Development Fund. The NDC said he was lying, but he has been proven right!
16. Dr. Bawumia said the government would introduce a Gold for Oil policy. The NDC said he was lying, but he has been proven right!
17. Dr. Bawumia said newborn babies would be issued Ghanacard numbers and birth certificates at birth. The NDC said he was lying, but he has been proven right!
18. Dr. Bawumia said Ghanaians will be able to buy electricity on their mobile phones. The NDC said he was lying, but he has been proven right!
19. Dr. Bawumia said Ghanaians will be able to enroll for and renew their national health insurance on their mobile phones. The NDC said he was lying, but he has been proven right!
20. Dr. Bawumia said Ghanaians will be able to check the insurance status of any vehicle instantaneously on a mobile phone. The NDC said he was lying, but he has been proven right!
21. Dr. Bawumia said the NPP will create over one million jobs. The NDC said he was lying, but he has been proven right!
22. Dr. Bawumia said the government will introduce an exchange program for Okada riders to provide them with vehicles. The NDC said he was lying, but it is on course to happen soon! He will be proven right.
23. Dr. Bawumia says the government will introduce an individualized credit scoring system for Ghana. The NDC said he was lying, but yet again, he will be proven right!
CONCLUSION
From the above, it is obvious the NDC's deliberate communication objective to brand Bawumia a liar has failed to achieve its objectives because the accusation of "lies" cannot be substantiated.
Branding Bawumia a liar and calling him Bawuliar may sound interesting, like music to the ears of only the NDC and those who orchestrated it. Its impact, however, can only excite a section of the NDC, who continue to push such weak labeling.
