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Claim: A Facebook post by Salone Political Watch claims that former President Ernest Bai Koroma celebrated the 75th anniversary of the Sierra Leone People’s Party (SLPP) in Makeni.
Verdict: False. The image supporting the claim is AI-generated. Further checks showed that the SLPP’s 75th anniversary was held on April 28 at the Bintumani Conference Centre in Freetown, not Makeni. Reports also showed Koroma had just recently returned to his hometown of Makeni years after he fled Sierra Leone.
Full Text
A Facebook page, Salone Political Watch, claims that former President Ernest Bai Koroma recently celebrated the Sierra Leone People’s Party’s 75th anniversary in Makeni.
The post (archived here) includes photographs that appear to show Koroma wearing green SLPP-branded clothing and attending a celebration decorated in SLPP colours and featuring anniversary cakes.
As of Sept. 16, 2026, the post has gained over 450 likes, 31 comments, and six reshares. One user, Ivan Priddy, commented, “Don’t trust these people; they can do anything.” Another user, Alpha Amadu Jalloh, wrote, “This is crazy; sometimes the level of immaturity we display is beyond imagination.”
Given the personality involved and the context of the claim, DUBAWA decided to fact-check it.
Verification
DUBAWA examined the images attached to the claim using an AI image-analysis tool, Image Detector. The analysis returned a 96% probability of AI generation, indicating a high likelihood that the images were AI-generated.
Photo: Screenshots of the AI analysis of the photo used by the claimant
The visual characteristics of the images also raise further concerns. The photographs depict Koroma wearing specially designed green clothing bearing SLPP logos and anniversary markings, while the setting contains multiple elements associated with an SLPP 75th anniversary celebration.
These details are inconsistent with the available evidence concerning Koroma’s activities during his recent return to Makeni.
The SLPP did celebrate its 75th anniversary in 2026, and President Julius Maada Bio was publicly involved in the anniversary activities. State House reported on May 1, 2026, that President Bio commemorated the party’s 75th anniversary at the Miatta Conference Centre in Freetown, calling for unity, discipline, and electoral preparedness ahead of the 2028 elections, and not in September or in Makeni as the claimant alleged.
Instead, reporting on Koroma’s return shows a very different context. Koroma returned to Sierra Leone on Sept. 6, 2026, two years after he left for Nigeria. He subsequently travelled to Makeni, his hometown. Reports of his return described him as a former APC leader returning to his political stronghold, with APC figures and supporters involved in his homecoming.
The Sierra Leone Telegraph also reported that Koroma’s return drew political interest because of his continuing influence within the APC.
More significantly, the APC Strategic Communications Unit issued a statement on Aug. 31, 2026, describing Koroma as a loyal APC member committed to the party’s unity, progress, and eventual return to power. The statement concluded: “He built the APC. He will not break the APC.”
This is consistent with the political context surrounding his return and contradicts the impression created by the viral image that Koroma had publicly aligned himself with the SLPP.
DUBAWA also reviewed available recent coverage of Koroma’s arrival and subsequent activities. Liberty TV Online, for example, published coverage specifically focused on Koroma’s arrival in Makeni, rather than an SLPP anniversary celebration involving the former president.
Top APC members also shared their involvement in the former president’s return to Makeni, as seen in posts by the Leader of the APC in Parliament, the Mayor of Freetown, the National Publicity Secretary Aspirant, Mohamed Omodu Kamara (Jagaban), and other media outlets — see here, here, here, and here. None of these pictures or videos shows SLPP attire or relates to the SLPP’s 75th anniversary.
From the above, it is evident that the clothing shown in the actual photographs from Koroma’s return differed from the green SLPP-branded clothing displayed in the viral AI-generated image. The image used in the claim, therefore, appears to have been created to falsely portray Koroma as participating in an SLPP event.
Conclusion
The claim that Ernest Bai Koroma celebrated the SLPP’s 75th anniversary in Makeni is false. DUBAWA examined the photographs used to support the claim and found them highly likely to be AI-generated. Also, recent media coverage of Koroma’s activities since his return does not include his affiliation with SLPP.