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False! No evidence supporting claim Weah was rushed to hospital over election shock

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Claim: A Social Media show host named Prophet Key posted on Facebook that President Weah fell due to election pressure and was rushed to 14th Military Hospital a day after the Oct.10 elections.

False! No evidence supporting claim Weah was rushed to hospital over election shock

Verdict: False! Independent checks by the fact-checker at the 14th Military Hospital showed no evidence of the president being at the hospital between Oct. 9 and 12, 2023. Also, a doctor at the Institution on duty Oct. 11 told the fact-checker that the president was not seen in the facility on that particular day while the Minister of Information of the Republic of Liberia referred to the post as a piece of “nonsense”.

Full Text

Liberians went to the polls Oct. 10, 2023, to elect new leaders. The incumbent President George Mannah Weah contesting re-election after six years of his first term faces 19 contenders as the former Vice President of the Unity Party (former Ruling party) becomes his major opposition in the ongoing elections.

On Oct. 11, 2023, an influential Talk-Show Host and a supporter of the Opposition Unity Party called Prophet Key posted via his social media page (Facebook), stating that President Weah was rushed to the government’s 14th Military Hospital after he (President Weah) encountered pressure from the preliminary results coming in on the day of the elections.

According to Prophet Key, the incumbent has already been voted out by Liberians in the polls on election day which was very terrifying for him (President Weah) and led to high blood pressure.

“The former President fell this morning, they rushed him to hospital 14. Tomorrow on the world stage I will give you more details. Buka dancer in serious pain, ayy meh, this thing can hurt ohh.”

The post got mixed reactions as supporters of the incumbent claimed it was mere propaganda while supporters of the opposition considered it factual and reliable information that their leader had won the elections already. The mixed reactions prompted DUBAWA to authenticate the information.

Verification

To authenticate this claim, DUBAWA contacted the claimant (prophet Key) to provide details or evidence to substantiate his claim but he didn’t provide any information or evidence for it.

False! No evidence supporting claim Weah was rushed to hospital over election shock
False! No evidence supporting claim Weah was rushed to hospital over election shock

DUBAWA also checked all the credible websites to see if any such publication had been made but found no such story. For information as crucial as this, media houses would have reported if there was any such information.

DUBAWA contacted a doctor who works at the hospital but wants to remain anonymous. He was on duty the particular day the claim was made by the prophet. The doctor stated that he didn’t see either the president or any government officials in and around the compound that day.

Also, the fact-checker later visited the hospital on Oct. 13, 2023 and was able to check in the patient’s logged sheets from Oct. 9 to 13, (a document that has the names of people that visit the hospital a day) but didn’t find the President Weah login information nor any of his personal staffers on it.

In further fact-checking the information, DUBAWA also contacted Minister Legerhood Rennie, Minister of Information and Cultural and Tourism of the Republic of Liberia who described the post as a piece of “nonsense”.

Conclusion

After verifying all the possible areas in an attempt to substantiate the claim, there was no evidence supporting the claim. The claimant who made the allegation also failed to authenticate his post.

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