On a Thursday morning in Accra, the conference hall was filled with an unusual mix of people: journalists, software developers, government officials, community radio producers, and researchers. They had come together for a launch that, on the surface, might seem highly technical, but at its core was about something deeply human: the right to know the truth in the language you understand. Penplusbytes, a Ghanaian media and technology organisation, unveiled KasaGadi.ai, a multilingual artificial intelligence-powered fact-checking marketplace designed to combat misinformation and disinformation in Ghanaian languages. The platform is a direct response to a troubling reality that most fact-checking tools are built for English-speaking audiences, leaving a vast gap in the verification of information that circulates in Twi, Hausa, and other local languages. The name KasaGadi is itself symbolic, combining “Kasa,” an Akan word associated with speech, and “Gadi,” a Hausa word meaning guard or protect. Together, they capture the platform’s mission: to guard speech, to protect the integrity of what people say and hear. Jerry Sam, Executive Director of Penplusbytes, set the tone for the event with a powerful statement: “Access to credible information should not depend on your age, where you live, the language you speak or your level of digital literacy.” With support from the Norwegian Government, the platform initially focuses on Twi and Hausa, with plans to expand to other Ghanaian languages. It is part of the Ghana Anti-Disinformation Coalition (GADC) project, implemented by Penplusbytes with support from the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs through the Royal Norwegian Embassy in Accra.
The problem KasaGadi seeks to solve is both simple and deeply entrenched. In Ghana, misinformation rarely arrives in neat English paragraphs. It spreads through forwarded WhatsApp voice notes, half-heard conversations on tro-tros, and call-in segments on community radio stations. A rumour about a health scare, a political figure, or a local conflict can travel from Accra to a rural village in a matter of hours, carried in a language that feels familiar and therefore trustworthy. But the fact-checking tools available to journalists and ordinary citizens often speak only English. They are designed for a different media environment, one where misinformation lives on Twitter and Facebook and is written in polished sentences. In Ghana, the same falsehoods are often shared orally, in dialect, with emotional urgency that makes them even more persuasive. KasaGadi is built to meet this challenge head-on. It is not just a website; it is a marketplace where fact-checkers, media organisations, researchers, and other information integrity practitioners can connect, share verified content, and access guidance on identifying and preventing the spread of misleading information. It is also designed to support community and grassroots radio stations with practical verification resources, helping them disseminate accurate information in languages their audiences actually understand. Alongside the platform, Penplusbytes released a research report titled “Language as a Vector: Examining the Role of Local Dialects and Artificial Intelligence in Disinformation Dissemination and Mitigation in Ghana.” The report explores how local languages and emerging technologies influence the creation and spread of deceptive narratives, while also highlighting opportunities to use AI to strengthen information verification. The findings are a reminder that technology is a double-edged sword: the same tools that can generate deepfakes and viral lies can also be harnessed to protect truth, but only if they are adapted to local realities.
At the heart of KasaGadi is a profound appreciation for community radio, which remains one of the most trusted and accessible sources of information in Ghana. For many people, especially those in rural and underserved areas, radio is not a nostalgic medium; it is a lifeline. It is where they hear about elections, health campaigns, and community events. But it is also a place where misinformation can spread when broadcasters lack the resources to verify claims or when callers share unconfirmed stories on air. KasaGadi seeks to change that by giving small stations the tools they need to fact-check before broadcasting. This includes checklists, AI-powered verification tools, and direct connections to professional fact-checkers who can help clarify whether a claim is true, false, or misleading. Jerry Sam explained that community radio stations are central to the initiative because they remain trusted and accessible sources of information for many communities, particularly those with limited access to digital verification tools. He also spoke about Penplusbytes’ long experience in media and information literacy, which includes training journalists, government officials, young people, WhatsApp group administrators, and persons with disabilities. That experience, he said, has demonstrated the need for a collective approach to tackling disinformation. No single organisation can do it alone. The fight against misinformation requires a network of people who understand local languages, cultural contexts, and the specific ways rumours travel in different communities. KasaGadi is an attempt to build that network, not from the top down, but from the ground up, by equipping the people who already hold the trust of their communities.
The launch also drew a candid and encouraging response from government officials. Shamima Muslim, Deputy Presidential Spokesperson, described KasaGadi as an important tool that would help address the gap between the languages in which Ghanaians receive and share information and those supported by existing fact-checking systems. Her remarks were striking for their honesty. “Ghanaians are not resistant to verification. They are actually asking for it. But we are not giving it to them in a language that they understand and can relate to,” she said. This is a crucial insight. The problem is not that people are unwilling to question what they hear; it is that the mechanisms for verification are often inaccessible to them. A fact-check published in English on a website may as well not exist for someone who primarily communicates in Twi and listens to a local radio station. Muslim expressed the government’s willingness to engage Penplusbytes as a learning partner to pilot and test KasaGadi, while exploring opportunities to work with community information centres, media organisations, and other stakeholders. Her words suggested that the platform is not intended to be a standalone project, but a catalyst for broader change in how Ghana approaches information integrity. Emmanuel Ofori, Director of Innovations at the Ministry of Communication, Digital Technology and Innovations, added a technical perspective. He stressed that connectivity, accessible digital tools, and locally relevant language datasets are essential to effective fact-checking. He acknowledged that AI can help identify manipulated images and misleading claims, but warned that Ghana needs to strengthen its local-language data and train models to reflect the country’s linguistic and cultural contexts. Without that foundation, AI-based fact-checking would simply replicate the biases of English-centric tools. Ofori also urged media organisations to establish clear editorial standards and verification procedures to prevent the publication of false information that could damage reputations, livelihoods, and public trust. His comments linked the platform to larger questions of institutional integrity, reminding everyone present that technology is only as effective as the human systems around it.
The presence of the Norwegian Ambassador to Ghana, John Mikal Kvistad, added an important international dimension to the launch. In his remarks, Kvistad reaffirmed Norway’s support for initiatives that promote information integrity, describing reliable information as fundamental to democracy and informed public debate. “Reliable information is, of course, key to any democracy,” he said, emphasising that access to credible information is essential to sustaining an open society and a well-informed citizenry. His words were a reminder that misinformation is not a uniquely Ghanaian problem. It is a global threat to democratic institutions, public health, and social cohesion. But the response must be locally rooted. The Norwegian Government’s support for KasaGadi, channeled through the Royal Norwegian Embassy in Accra, reflects a growing recognition that information integrity requires investment in local solutions rather than imported ones. Kvistad’s remarks also implicitly acknowledged the importance of language in democracy. A well-informed citizenry is not simply one that has access to information; it is one that can access information in a form that makes sense to them. By supporting a platform that works in Twi and Hausa, Norway is helping to ensure that the promise of information integrity extends beyond Accra’s elite circles and English-speaking audiences. The partnership between Penplusbytes and the Norwegian Government is a model for how international cooperation can support local innovation. It is not about exporting solutions, but about enabling communities to protect their own information ecosystems, with tools and resources that are culturally relevant and linguistically appropriate.
Ultimately, KasaGadi.ai is more than a platform; it is a statement about what kind of society Ghana wants to be. In a country where information flows through multiple languages, technologies, and social networks, the fight against misinformation cannot be won with a single English-language website or a few fact-checking articles. It requires a sustained, multilingual, and deeply human effort. The launch of KasaGadi represents an important step in that direction, but it is only the beginning. The platform will need to be tested, refined, and expanded. It will need the active participation of the media, civil society, government, and ordinary citizens. It will need more local-language datasets, more trained fact-checkers, and more community radio stations willing to pause before broadcasting a sensational claim. The research report “Language as a Vector” provides a foundation, but the real work lies in the messy, everyday interactions where rumours are born and, hopefully, debunked. As Jerry Sam and others made clear, access to credible information should not depend on where you live or the language you speak. KasaGadi is an attempt to live up to that principle. It is a reminder that technology, when designed with empathy and local knowledge, can serve the public good. And it is a call to action for all of us—journalists, officials, tech developers, and citizens—to guard the information space with the same care that a Hausa “gadi” guards a home. In the end, the fight against misinformation is not about algorithms alone; it is about trust, community, and the right of every Ghanaian to understand the world in their own language. That is a mission worth protecting.