Claim: “Keep old man Joe in your prayers. Learned he was rushed to the hospital.”
Verdict: Fake! The photo was doctored from the photo of Brazil’s former President, Jair Bolsonaro.
Full Text: A social media blog, Shine Liberia posted a photo with the caption, “Keep old man Joe in your prayers. Learned he was rushed to the hospital.”
Recently, a post was made in the media that the standard bearer of the former ruling Unity Party (UP), Joseph Boakia, was sick and admitted to the Eternal Love Winning Africa (ELWA) Hospital in Liberia.
Fast forward, and the media again reported that he was discharged after a week-long stay.
However, News of his poor health condition has been circulating in the public for quite a while now.
However, Shine Liberia which seeks to showcase the cultural heritage of Liberia and highlight business and investment took to its page on August 21, 2023, that the UP standard bearer was rushed to the hospital, displaying a photo of him lying on a hospital bed.
As of August 22, 2023, the post generated 126 reactions, 138 comments, and 5 shares, with some commenters sending their condolences to Joseph Boakai.
This researcher verified the information posted by the blog.
Verification: The false image of Joseph Baokai, posted by Shine Liberia was checked on Bing, a web search engine, and pages of said image let out the photos of the former President of Brazil, Jair Bolsonaro.
The photo of the former Brazilian President was checked on PimEyes, an online face search engine and research further reveals that the image posted to be Boakia, who is also the former Vice President of Liberia, is a photo tweeted on January 10, 2023, by former President Bolsonaro, after he had gone for medical treatment in a hospital in Orlando, USA, as shown below.
Photo tweeted by Brazil’s former President Jair Bolsonaro
As can be seen in the photo posted by Bolsonaro, the medical setup and the background in the hospital room are the same as the photo posted by Shine Liberia, claiming it to be the photo of Boakai.
The medical gown worn by Bolsonaro is also the same as the one placed on Boakai, and the electronic gadgets on Bolsonaro’s bed are in the same position as Boakai’s.
Former President Bolsonaro’s head was replaced with that of former VP Boakai and work was done on Bolsonaro’s arms that changed the colour to black to match the skin colour of Mr. Boakai.
Boakai isn’t a hairy man as the poster wants people to be as seen in the image above.
Those arms are that of Bolsonaro and were coloured black to make believe that they are of Boakai.
Conclusion: Shine Liberia’s picture of former Vice President Boakai lying on a hospital bed is fake!
