Propaganda, Panic and Political Desperation: Ghana Must Not Be Deceived Again

A familiar pattern is emerging in our political space—one that Ghanaians have seen before and, unfortunately, suffered from before.

Whenever a government begins to stabilise the economy, restore order to broken institutions, and rebuild confidence, a certain opposition tradition activates its most predictable weapon: disinformation. Not policy alternatives. Not constructive criticism. But propaganda, distortion, and calculated mischief.

The NPP, still reeling from its electoral rejection, appears determined to manufacture outrage where none exists. Unable to defend its own record of economic hardship, reckless borrowing, and institutional mismanagement, it has returned to the only tool it seems to trust—smear campaigns.

We are seeing it unfold again.
One individual makes a sensational allegation that foreign scholarships are being sold at the Scholarship Secretariat. Instead of presenting evidence publicly, he is invited by the National Intelligence Bureau to substantiate his claims. What follows? Not proof. Not documents. But street agitation. Noise replaces evidence. Drama replaces facts.

At the same time, a false narrative is being aggressively circulated that the wife of the CEO of Goldbod owns a jewellery shop in Dubai—an insinuation clearly designed to create suspicion and scandal where none has been proven. The claim is amplified not by fringe actors, but by leading voices within the opposition.

This script is not new.
Ghanaians will remember how similar claims were weaponised in the past. There were allegations that the late Nana Konadu Agyemang Rawlings owned a gold shop in Switzerland. After the NPP came to power, the noise disappeared—because it had served its purpose. There were dramatic claims ahead of the 2016 elections that President John Mahama owned apartments in Dubai. Those allegations flooded the airwaves, shaped perception, and influenced voter sentiment. Yet once power was secured, those claims quietly evaporated.

The pattern is clear: plant suspicion, repeat it relentlessly, allow it to take root emotionally, and move on once it has done political damage.

And now, as a new government works to correct years of fiscal recklessness—particularly in institutions like COCOBOD, whose current struggles stem from accumulated debt and mismanagement—the same machinery is being reactivated. Cocoa farmers are being incited. Social media is being flooded. Confidence is being targeted.

This is not opposition politics. This is destabilisation politics.

There is nothing wrong with scrutiny. In fact, scrutiny strengthens democracy. But scrutiny must be anchored in truth, evidence, and good faith. When allegations are made, they must be proven. When concerns are raised, they must be substantiated. Otherwise, what we are witnessing is not accountability—it is sabotage.

Ghanaians must ask themselves a simple question: if these allegations are credible, why do they consistently dissolve once power changes hands? Why are they loud before elections and silent after?

The truth is that disinformation thrives in emotionally charged environments. It thrives when citizens are impatient. It thrives when people are unwilling to verify before sharing. And it thrives when those who lost power believe that making a performing government unpopular is easier than rebuilding credibility through policy.

The current government did not inherit a perfect system. It inherited structural debt, institutional distortions, and fragile confidence. Yet in just over a year, there have been signs of stabilisation, renewed investor confidence, and deliberate attempts to correct long-standing inefficiencies. These efforts may not be dramatic enough for those who crave spectacle, but governance is not theatre—it is careful reconstruction.

What Ghana cannot afford is to allow recycled propaganda to derail progress once again.

Democracy does not demand blind loyalty. It demands discernment. It demands that citizens distinguish between verified wrongdoing and politically engineered outrage. It demands that we refuse to be manipulated by narratives designed to inflame rather than inform.

The opposition has every right to criticise. But Ghanaians have a greater responsibility—to think critically, to demand evidence, and to resist becoming instruments of misinformation.

We have travelled this road before. We know where it leads.

This time, Ghana must rise above it.
Let truth—not noise—shape our judgment. Let evidence—not emotion—guide our conclusions. And let us not allow propaganda to sabotage progress once again.