By Mabinty M. Kamara 

A widely circulated Twitter post claiming to be President Bio’s account states that “if the EU, Uk, and USA meddle in our internal affairs or elections, it is going to leave me no option but expel them from my country. I don’t care if they pay for these elections,” it reads.

Verdict: FALSE! It is an impersonated account.

Methodology:

To verify the account, the SLAJ/NDI team of Fact checkers carefully studied the account bearing the post and that of the original account of President Julius Maada Bio.

With Twitter verification now open for subscription, it is difficult to differentiate a fake account from a real one.

However, President Bio’s Twitter handle is @PresidentBio while the impersonated account is @juliusbio.

The profile photo of the account under review is the same as that of the original account of the president.

Twitter has since that post suspended that particular account for violating Twitter rules such as preaching hate and violence.

The suspension made further analysis of the account very difficult.

That notwithstanding, the team also spoke to the Presidential Press Secretary, Yusuf Keketoma Sandi, who also confirmed that the account is not of the President and that it is the handiwork of the disinformation peddlers in the opposition.

“President Julius Maada Bio enjoys the confidence of our international partners and friendly nations. He is looking forward to strengthening the bilateral relations with our international partners and friendly nations to continue his progressive leadership in the second term,” he said.

Conclusion:

It is a fake account from an unknown person and the claims there are all baseless. President Julius Maada Bio did not make such a pronouncement.

This Fact Checked article is a product of the SLAJ/NDI SuperNewsRoom on Combating Disinformation in Sierra Leone’s 2023 electoral cycle. The project is supported by Global Affairs Canada to enable citizens to have access to credible and accurate information during the elections.

 The SuperNewsRoom is powered by Africell SL.

#U Don Chek Am? Na 4 Chek Am!