An Accra Circuit Court has sentenced a Ghanaian TikToker, Camilla Alhassan, to one year imprisonment for falsely alleging that President John Mahama buried 32 cows in a ritual to secure victory in the country's 2024 presidential election.
The court delivered the judgment on Thursday after Alhassan pleaded guilty to charges bordering on offensive conduct and the dissemination of false information.
The conviction followed the circulation of videos on TikTok in which she claimed that Mahama engaged in ritual practices involving the burial of cows to influence the outcome of the election. The videos attracted widespread attention and sparked reactions across social media.
Following investigations by the Ghana Police Service, Alhassan was arrested and prosecuted over the claims.
Her lawyer, Kwadwo Gyamfi Bonsu, said the court dismissed an additional charge of electronic abuse after ruling that it lacked the jurisdiction to entertain the matter.
According to him, the defence team urged the court to impose a lighter punishment, but the judge held that the increasing incidence of similar offences required a sentence that would serve as a deterrent to others.
The court subsequently imposed a one-year custodial sentence.
Mahama, who previously served as Ghana's president after winning the 2012 election, returned to office following a decisive victory in the 2024 polls.
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