Image of Dr Kaifala. Photo credit: Google
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Claim: A Facebook page, Salone Political Watch, posted a photo purporting to show Dr Kaifala Marah wearing a Sierra Leone People’s Party (SLPP) T-shirt at the party’s headquarters, alongside a message claiming that he had chosen to join the SLPP.
Verdict: False. There is no credible evidence that Dr Kaifala Marah has joined the SLPP. The viral image is AI-generated.
Full Text
A Facebook page named Salone Political Watch has circulated a photo purporting to show former Minister of Finance and Bank Governor, Dr Kaifala Marah, wearing an SLPP-branded T-shirt at the SLPP party headquarters. The page further described the alleged move as “one of the smartest decisions any politician can make” and welcomed Dr Marah to what it called “the right direction.”
The post published on August 19, 2026 continued to create the impression that the opposition politician had crossed over to the ruling party, with its caption saying: “DR. KARIFALA MARAH HAS CHOSEN TO FOLLOW THE RIGHT DIRECTION — THE SLPP.”
The post circulated quickly, garnering over 290 likes, 1 share, and over 60 comments, some of which question the veracity of the claim. A commenter, Alusine Koya, asked whether the claim was true, then proceeded to welcome Dr Marrah, saying he had made the right decision. “Is this true? If yes, That’s a good decision for DR Marrah…Welcome to the great SLPP”
Mohamed Bockarie, another commenter, asked, “When dis apin?”
For Sahr Philip Mbawa, the post creates doubts, and he hopes to get clarification on mainstream media: “Until I hear and see it on mainstream media like AYV, SLBC, 98.1, etc I will have my doubt.”
Glen John Williams said, “Nothing is impossible when it comes to political cross-carpeting. It’s fake though”
Considering the controversy surrounding the claim and its potential to mislead the public, DUBAWA decided to fact-check the claim as Dr Marah remains a prominent figure associated with the All People’s Congress (APC).
Verification
DUBAWA reviewed publicly available information and found no credible report or official statement confirming that Dr Kaifala Marah has defected from the APC to the SLPP.
Recent reports continue to identify Dr Marah as an APC figure. In April 2026, the United Nations Office for West Africa and the Sahel identified him as the Chief Negotiator for the All Peoples Congress (APC) during discussions on the Agreement for National Unity.
In March 2026, Truth Media also reported on statements by Dr Marah in which he represented the APC and criticised the government’s handling of the Tripartite Committee recommendations. Other recent reports have described Dr Marah as an APC presidential aspirant and flag-bearer.
DUBAWA further examined the viral image using DeepAI, an artificial-intelligence image detection tool. The tool returned a result indicating an 83% probability of deepfaking, flagging the image as AI-generated.
A closer look at the circulating image shared by the Salone Political Watch Facebook page also shows that the supposed SLPP building featured in the viral image differs from the actual SLPP headquarters building at 15 Wallace Johnson Street in Freetown. There’s a glaring difference in the colour of the buildings.
A collage of the viral image and the real photo of the SLPP headquarters on Wallace Johnson Street, Freetown, as taken by the researcher
Conclusion
The Facebook claim by Salone Political Watch, purporting to say that Dr Kaifala Marah defected to the SLPP, is false. The viral image used to support the claim is AI-generated.
This report was produced under the 2026 Kwame Karikari Fact-checking and OSINT Fellowship, co-hosted by DUBAWA and the Digital Technology, Artificial Intelligence, and Information Disorder Analysis Centre (DAIDAC), with support from the Centre for Journalism Innovation and Development (CJID).
