Government requests apology from Ghana's creator plagiarized beyond the cover page | Policy

The government is asking for explanations and apologies to a Ghanaian artist who plagiarized a photo of a Kenyan building for using it as a cover of the Ghana Beyond Aid strategy paper.

Richmond Bansah has been commissioned to produce an original work of art that reflects the vision of Ghana's program of action beyond the aid and highlights of the strategy paper.

Instead, he allegedly plagiarized a photo of the headquarters of Dawit Insurance Limited in Nairobi, triggering criticism against the government, with some people describing the act as embarrbading.

This is the original photo of Dawit Insurance plagiarized in Ghana's Beyond Assistance Strategy Paper
Critics were shocked by the way government officials led President Nana Addo Dankwa AKufo-Addo to show the document with the photo plagiarized at a national event broadcast live.

Government officials at first downplayed the importance of the issue and asked people to focus instead on the content, but the agenda committee on Beyond Ghana issued a statement Friday to apologize for this blunder.

"The Committee fully apologizes to the President and the nation for this error," said the Secretary-General of the Committee, said Dr. Eric Yeboah.

Ghana apologizes for plagiarism photo of Kenya's skyline
He stated that the Committee "takes full responsibility" and is currently "ensuring that the cover page of the document is replaced before bulk copies are printed for wide dissemination." ".

Apologize for the embarrbadment

In a separate letter to the artist, Richmond Bansah, the Committee stated that it needed explanations as to why it had plagiarized a person's work as opposed to an original work.

For the Committee, it was a "singular act of indiscretion and lack of professionalism" on the part of Bansah.

His action, the Committee noted, has embarrbaded the president, the aid committee beyond Ghana and its president, which is why he should explain and apologize.

"So you have to provide an explanation and official apology to the Aid Committee beyond Ghana," the letter to Bansah said on May 31.

The Committee however did not specify whether it would apply a penalty to the artist.

The critics asked how much was paid for the artist and if, despite his plagiarized work, the government would ask for the reimbursement of all the sums possibly paid to Bansah, but the Committee did not address this issue.