Mahama Duped by AI: How Fraudsters Used Deepfake Technology to Impersonate Ghana's President Even as He Champions a National AI Revolution

A Bitter Irony at the Heart of Ghana's Digital Moment
At the very moment President John Dramani Mahama was positioning Ghana as Africa's next great artificial intelligence hub, criminals were busy weaponizing that same technology against him and against the Ghanaian public. The result is a striking and deeply ironic collision between Ghana's soaring AI ambitions and the dark underbelly of the digital revolution.

The Scam: Fraudsters Deploy AI Deepfakes of the President
The Inspector-General of Police's Cyber Vetting and Enforcement Team (CVET) of the Ghana Police Service arrested 11 individuals, including Nigerian nationals, over allegations of using AI-generated deepfake videos to impersonate President John Dramani Mahama for fraudulent online activities.

Between May 1 and 3, 2026, CVET carried out coordinated cyber operations across Sogakope, Dabala, Tongu, Akatsi and Aflao in the Volta Region, leading to the arrest of five suspects Raphael Ablordeppey (32), Anipah Jonathan (23), Dzamesi Bright Kofi (35), Thomas Ayoyo (17) and Louis Segbawu (18) following intelligence on a group allegedly creating and circulating AI-generated videos impersonating the president. A further operation on May 4, 2026, led to the arrest of six more suspects in Aflao, comprising five Nigerians and one Ghanaian.

A preliminary investigation indicates that the suspects used AI-generated content to fraudulently solicit money and sensitive personal information from unsuspecting members of the public through online platforms.

In court on Wednesday, May 6, 2026, nine of the 11 suspects were remanded into police custody to reappear on May 25, 2026, while Thomas Ayoyo and Louis Segbawu were granted bail with two sureties each to be justified.

What is a Deepfake and Why is it So Dangerous?
A deepfake is a hyper-realistic video or audio clip generated by artificial intelligence, in which a person's face, voice, or both are digitally manipulated to make them appear to say or do things they never did. When the face being faked belongs to a sitting head of state, the potential for mass public deception is enormous. Unsuspecting citizens, seeing what appears to be their president speaking directly to them, May readily hand over money or sensitive personal details which are precisely what the arrested suspects allegedly counted on.

The technology, once the preserve of sophisticated actors, has become dangerously accessible. AI tools that can generate convincing deepfake videos are now widely available online, often for free making it possible for even relatively small criminal networks to produce high-quality fraudulent content with minimal technical expertise.

The Bigger Picture: Mahama's National AI Vision
The scam unfolds against the backdrop of President Mahama's bold and ambitious national push to harness AI for Ghana's development. President John Dramani Mahama unveiled Ghana's Artificial Intelligence Strategy at the Labadi Beach Hotel on April 24, 2026, outlining a bold vision to position the country as a leading digital innovation hub in Africa.

President Mahama emphasized that the defining question for Ghana is not whether AI will shape the future, but how the nation will shape its use in line with its values, priorities, and development aspirations. He stressed that the government is committed to preparing Ghanaians to lead in the era of technological transformation, not be displaced by it.

The strategy will be rolled out over a 10-year period, guided by clear targets and disciplined execution, with a Responsible Artificial Intelligence Office to be established to drive coordination and oversight.

The plan focuses on job creation, startup growth, public-sector modernization, education reform, digital inclusion, and local innovation with the goal of making Ghana an active builder of AI systems rather than a consumer of technology developed elsewhere.

Coding for a Million Ghanaians
At the April 24 launch, Mahama confirmed that 300,000 Ghanaians are expected to receive training this year under the One Million Coders Programme, with more than 100,000 applications already processed. The nationwide rollout officially began on April 10, 2026, with 130 training centers activated across all 16 regions, each equipped with customized laptops for coding instruction. Twelve universities including the University of Ghana, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, and the University Of Cape Coast are participating in the first phase.

Private sector partners are contributing meaningfully. MTN Ghana committed resources valued at approximately $2 million to support laptop procurement for university participants, and Telecel Ghana announced it would provide free training to 100,000 young Ghanaians a contribution valued at around $5 million.

A Call to AI Sovereignty
President Mahama called for the localization of AI to reflect Ghanaian values, ethics, and realities, saying Ghana is determined to use AI wisely to enhance human conditions. He said Ghana must build, own, and govern AI that understands local languages, respects Ghanaian culture, and solves their problems.

Ghana currently ranks 72nd globally and 6th in Africa in the Global AI Index 2025, behind Egypt, Mauritius, South Africa, and Tunisia a ranking that reflects balanced development across talent, research, infrastructure, and a growing startup ecosystem.

Two Faces of AI in Ghana
The juxtaposition could not be more stark. On one hand, a president championing AI as a tool for national liberation, economic growth, and youth empowerment. On the other, a criminal network exploiting that same technology to defraud the very citizens he seeks to uplift using his own face to do it.

The arrests send a clear signal that Ghana's digital ambitions must be matched by equally robust cyber security frameworks, public digital literacy, and legal enforcement. As the country races to become a continental AI leader, the deepfake scam serves as a timely and sobering reminder: the same tools that can build a nation can, in the wrong hands, be turned against it.

Mustapha Bature Sallama.
Medical/ Science Communicator,
Private Investigator, Criminal investigation and Intelligence Analysis.
International Conflict Management and Peace Building.USIP
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