Exactly 10 years ago, a fraudster named Fauster Attah Mensah deceived the people of Ghana and the national television station GTV. He falsely claimed to be the current Chairman of the African Computer Society (ACS) and the 4th youngest Ghanaian African Scientist to work at NASA. He also falsely claimed to be a Nobel Prize winner in physics. His lies were soon exposed when internet users and journalists investigated to uncover his real identity.
But just when we thought the dust had settled, several top media personalities and distinguished Ghanaians were left with a PR nightmare, when they were awarded fake awards by a nonexistent entity –the Global Blueprint Excellence Award led by one Dr. Kwame Owusu Forjour. The Dr. UN awards- as this scandal has come to be known- was revealed to be another fraudulent event on a grand scale after it was revealed on X –formerly Twitter by inquisitive users.
Years down the line, Nkrumah’s Ghana has yet again witnessed another outrageously monumental deception. Chef Ebenezer Smith began cooking from 1st February to 6th March 2024, with some fanfare at the Amadia Shopping Centre at Spintex here in Accra. He claimed to have cooked for 820 hours, although he said he was initially targeting 1,200 hours.
But who knew that in the GWR fever that gripped the country, a recipe for a fake record was simmering in Chef Smith’s pot? We could say he stirred the pot when GWR revealed it was not aware of Chef Smith’s participation much more than conferring a win.
What then does it take to hoodwink a nation? But the question everybody wants answers to is why? And more importantly, will we fall for the next one? Hopefully not. But like they say, the devil is in the details.
Source: Ghana/Starrfm.com.gh/103.5FM/Elikplim Awuku
