Claim: A Facebook blog, Salone Political Watch, posted a viral image of the Mayor of Freetown, Ivoynne Aki-Sawyer, wearing a T-shirt of the Sierra Leone People’s Party.
Verdict: False! DUBAWA’s fact-check showed that the image was doctored from an original photo. Mayor Aki-Sawyer also told DUBAWA that the claim is AI-generated.
Full Text
Sierra Leone’s new electoral reform law introduces sweeping changes, from lowering the presidential win threshold to 50%+1 to shifting parliamentary elections to proportional representation, mandating 30% women’s representation, and allowing dual citizens and independents to contest.
These reforms were passed despite a boycott by the main opposition party, the All People’s Congress.
The Mayor of Freetown, Ivoynne Aki-Sawyer, who also doubles as a staunch member of the APC, wrote on her Facebook page,
“The APC MPs could not and would not validate the violation of our Constitution #SierraLeoneFirst.”
However, a Facebook page, Salone Political Watch, posted a viral image of the Mayor of Freetown, Ivoynne Aki-Sawyer, wearing a T-shirt of Sierra Leone’s People’s Party.
The claim garnered over 458 engagements and 74 comments. DUBAWA decided to fact-check it because it could mislead the public.
Verification
DUBAWA conducted a Google Reverse Image Search and found no authentic photo of the Mayor wearing the SLPP T-shirt.
A digital forensic check showed that the photo was edited from an original photo shared by Aki-Sawyer on her official page with the caption:
“I am in full agreement with the position taken by the APC Members of Parliament. According to Sect 108, constitutional amendment votes require a 2/3 majority.”
We also contacted Aki-Sawyer, and she confirmed that the photo shared by Salone Political Watch is AI-generated.
Aki-Sawyer’s reply.
We also ran the image through an AI image detector and found it to be 95% fake.
Results
Conclusion
The viral image is a digitally altered version of an authentic photo, edited to make it appear that Aki-Sawyer is wearing an SLPP T-shirt.