A Fact-Checking Exercise on a Trending News Story.
In September 2022, there was news that circulated all over the internet and also in the media outlets about United Nations Ghana (UN) global awards of excellence which is given to some high-profile Ghanaian personalities to monitor, evaluate and hold government accountable to the people. A man nicknamed ‘Dr UN’ by Ghanaian X formerly (Twitter) community who is originally called Dr Kwame Owusu Fordjour. According to Dr Fordjour’s website, he was appointed as a millennium ambassador by Kofi Annan (the seventh UN General Secretary) which many Ghanaians believed him. ‘Dr UN’ organized an award ceremony to given honour to some celebraties and personalities who he said have done so great and want to be acknowledged by United Nations Ghana (UN).
The award ceremony went viral after BET award winner Sarkodie and other high profile musician like, D-Black, Tv presenters, Captain Smart, Berla Mundi and many other as recipients were awarded at the event. The entertainment industry took up the opportunity to applauds the organizers of the event which many thought was UN Ghana. On social media, there was a congratulatory message influentials to those who won their awards.
As a journalism student, I did my fact-checking on the event by watching the whole event again and also went through the official page of United Nations Ghana (UN) to dig down to uncover the truth of what was said to be one of the biggest award publicity spots and also to know why there were none of their management team or leadership or see if there were photos with congratulatory messages from the leaders of the organization since they were unable to attend the event. I didn’t see anything of that sort but rather saw an official statement on their website dennying the alleged award ceremony in their press release which gave me the impression that the award ceremony was false. It was understood that Dr Kwame Owusu Fordjour was the brain behind the fake Global Blueprint Excellence award.
Dr. Kwame Owusu Fordjour and his entourage also managed to scam the then Vice Chancellor of the University of Ghana, Legon, Professor Ebenezer Oduro for his excellent contribution to the university.
This saga serves as a cautionary tale, highlighting the importance of rigorous fact-checking and skepticism in an era where misinformation can easily captivate both the public and respected figures.
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Your story is amazing.