Claim
Images circulating on social media and shared by several platforms claim to show a man purported to be a delegate at the Ayawaso East NDC parliamentary primaries, behind bags of rice, a motorbike, gari, cash, eggs, pepper and other items, allegedly distributed as part of vote buying during the election.
The image, shared by ‘The BBC Ghana’ a social blog, captioned the image as “Ayawaso East Delegates really cashed out this time…”
(Image 1 the BBC Ghana post)
Another image shows a woman purported to be a delegate, standing behind goodies and cash as well.
(Image 2 the woman)
The images have been widely shared on Facebook and X (formerly Twitter) by multiple users, including political actors and commentators, MPs with captions suggesting that the items were handed out to delegates during the primaries.
(Image 3 Suhuyini’s post)
The claims emerged after the February 7, 2026 NDC parliamentary primaries in the Ayawaso East Constituency, where delegates voted to elect a candidate for the upcoming by-election.
However, checks by EIB Research show that the images are not real.
After subjecting the images to advanced artificial-intelligence detection tools, it became clear that the visuals are AI-generated and did not originate from the Ayawaso East Constituency.
The images were first analysed using Hive Moderation, a powerful AI-detection and content-verification platform used globally by media organisations, technology companies and research institutions to identify manipulated and synthetic media.
Hive Moderation flagged the images as 99.9 percent AI-generated, indicating an extremely high probability that the visuals were created using artificial intelligence rather than captured in real life.
[Image 4 hive moderation screenshot ]
To further verify the findings, the images were also examined using Copyleaks, an advanced AI-detection tool widely recognised for its ability to identify artificial patterns in images, text and multimedia content.
Copyleaks independently classified the images as not genuine, flagging them as completely fake and consistent with AI-generated visuals.
[Image 5 copyleak screenshot]
Beyond the AI-detection results, a close visual examination revealed additional red flags. The cash placed on top of the items does not resemble Ghana cedis or any known legal tender in Ghana.
Some of the product labels also contain distorted or incorrect lettering — a common flaw in AI-generated images. For instance, sanitary pad is written as ‘sanisary pad’.
After running the images through these independent and highly reliable AI-detection platforms, there was one consistent outcome: the images were synthetically generated and not based on real events.
While allegations of vote buying were reported during the Ayawaso East NDC parliamentary primaries, these specific images did not originate from the constituency and should not be presented as evidence of what occurred during the election.
Based on the available evidence and results from multiple AI-detection systems, EIB Research concludes that the viral images allegedly showing vote buying at the Ayawaso East NDC primaries are fake and AI-generated.
Source: Starrfm.com.gh/Abilla Isaac Azumah (EIB Research, Fact-check and Investigative Desk)
