It was meant to be just another fun birthday shout-out — but Kofi Kum Bilson’s “gift” to former Vice President Dr Mahamudu Bawumia on live radio has suddenly brought back one of Ghana’s biggest political buzzwords of recent times — #Bawuliar.

The respected Peace FM presenter, known for his witty takes, dropped what many are now calling “the truth bomb” during his show on Bawumia’s birthday.

“Today is Bawumia’s birthday and I have a gift for him,” Kum Bilson began, teasing listeners with his trademark flair.

“Ghanaians, let me clarify today that Bawumia is not a liar. It was just political orchestration to discredit him,” he declared on-air.

According to him, the now-infamous “Bawuliar” tag was part of a well-crafted political retaliation — a comeback move by the opposition NDC after the ruling NPP had branded John Mahama as “incompetent.”

“What brought all these issues was that it was a retaliation,” Kum Bilson said. “They (the NDC) orchestrated this campaign to label Bawumia as ‘Bawuliar’ — but he is not a liar.”

Kum Bilson’s comments relate to a 2023 Joy FM investigative report, which revealed the “Bawuliar” campaign wasn’t random social media banter — but a coordinated disinformation effort.

Flashback: The Joy FM Investigation that unmasked the #Bawuliar campaign

Back in 2023, Joy FM, working with the African Academy for Open-Source Investigations (AAOSI), traced the viral “Bawuliar” trend to a deliberate attempt by political operatives to paint Bawumia as dishonest.

According to the report, several NDC communicators and loyalists were among those amplifying the hashtag online.

“We identified Twitter user @sammygyamfi2017 as the second most influential account in respect of the #Bawuliar trend,” the Joy report said, noting that the account matched archived tweets belonging to the party’s National Communications Officer, Sammy Gyamfi’s verified handle.

The investigation also revealed a network of 28 Twitter accounts working in sync to push the narrative using “copy-paste” posts.

It didn’t stop there. The campaign reportedly went so far as to influence Google search results for phrases like “Who is the biggest liar in Africa?” — a move experts called “Google bombing.”

“It was similar to how Donald Trump was linked to the word ‘idiot’ in 2018,” the report explained, drawing parallels between Ghana’s online politics and global digital disinformation tactics.

The Takeaway

What started as a light-hearted “birthday message” from Kofi Kum Bilson has turned into a timely reminder of how political messaging — both on-air and online — shapes perceptions.

By publicly clearing Bawumia’s name and echoing the findings of Joy FM’s 2023 exposé, the radio legend may have unintentionally reopened one of Ghana’s most heated digital political debates — the battle between spin, satire, and smear.

So, was it just a “birthday gift”? Or a subtle call for honesty in Ghana’s political storytelling? Either way, Kofi Kum Bilson just gave the nation something to talk about again.