Claim: The presidential hopeful and political leader of the Movement for Progressive Change (MPC), Simeon Freeman, has said “Liberia has the highest rate of rainfall in the world.”
Verdict: Liberia is not the country with the highest rainfall rate, according to BasicPlanet and az Animal.
Full Text
Simeon Freeman, a presidential hopeful in Liberia’s upcoming presidential and legislative elections, claimed that “Liberia has the highest rate of rainfall in the world.”
Mr Freeman, the political leader of the Movement for Progressive Change (MPC), made this claim when he appeared on national radio, Okay 99.5FM, to tell the Liberians about his presidential ambition.
Mr Freeman was a prime guest of the station’s flagship programme, The Okay Morning Rush. The show was simulcast on several other radio stations and online media outlets in the country, including Front Page Africa and Fortune TV.
During the programme, Mr Freeman claimed, “Liberia has the highest rainfall rate in the world.”
Mr Freeman made the claim around the 2:20:40 to 2:20:50 hours of the almost three-hour show.
Mr Freeman stated that under his regime as president of Liberia, he would not concentrate on building roads because it may stall the nation’s development.
Mr Freeman said, “We’ve got two seasons, dry and rainy seasons. We have torrential rain, and we have the highest rainfall in the world. People forget these things, so focusing on roads can hold back our progress.”
Verification
DUBAWA then decided to ascertain the facts of the claim. To begin with, DUBAWA first contacted the claimant, Mr Freeman, about his claim via messenger, as seen in the screenshot below, but he is yet to reply.
DUBAWA also discovered that according to the basicplanet website Liberia is not amongst the top ten countries with the highest rate of rainfall. Colombia tops the list.
DUBAWA also browsed through other websites like the AZ Animal, which in its June 26, 2023, report ranked Colombia as the country with the highest precipitation, with a downpour of 3,240 millimetres per year.
Conclusion
Based on DUBAWA’s brief research, Simeon Freeman’s assertion turns out to be misleading.
