WATCH: TikToker jailed for claiming the president buried 32 cows to win election

• A Ghanaian TikToker has been jailed for one year after admitting to publishing false claims about President John Mahama.

• She alleged, without evidence, that he buried 32 cows as part of a ritual to win the 2024 election.

• The court said a prison sentence was needed to deter similar offences.

A Ghanaian TikToker, Camilla Alhassan, has been sentenced to one year in prison over videos in which she claimed President John Dramani Mahama buried 32 cows as part of a ritual to secure victory in the 2024 general election.

The Accra Circuit Court handed down the sentence on Thursday, July 16, after the 43-year-old pleaded guilty to charges of offensive conduct and publishing false news.

According to prosecutors, Alhassan posted a series of videos between June 30 and July 5, 2026, alleging without evidence that Mahama had sacrificed the cows to win power. She also claimed, separately, that the government's distribution of sanitary pads to victims of a June 29 flood was intended to conceal the alleged sacrifices.

Alhassan was arrested by the Ghana Police Service on July 10, after she failed to honour an earlier police invitation for questioning. She had said in a video that she could not attend alone and would need her brother to accompany her.

A third charge against her, electronic abuse, was struck out after the court ruled it lacked jurisdiction to determine that offence. Her lawyer, Kwadwo Gyamfi Bonsu, said a plea for a lighter sentence was made but rejected.

The judge said the rising number of similar offences meant a custodial sentence was necessary to serve as a deterrent, according to Alhassan's legal team.

Alhassan's case is not an isolated one. She is among a growing list of social media influencers detained in Ghana this year under sections of the country's Criminal Offences Act covering false news and offensive conduct.

In September 2025, TikToker David Kwodwo Prah Afful, known online as Kwame Nkrumah II, was jailed for seven months after being convicted of making death threats against Mahama and members of parliament in a viral video.

Earlier in 2026, a pastor was remanded over an alleged death threat against Ghana's vice president made in a TikTok video, while separate creators were arrested over threats directed at Mahama and the First Lady.

READ NEXT: ‘I was a victim’ — Tiwa Savage opens up on leaked tape trauma, reveals it was exposed as a bet

A press freedom organisation, the Media Foundation for West Africa, has said the provisions used to prosecute these cases are disproportionate for speech-related offences, even as it also condemned the spread of disinformation and hate speech online.

Mahama's government has previously said it is considering new legislation to address misinformation on social media, with officials indicating that those found spreading falsehoods or content capable of causing fear would be tracked down and prosecuted.

The case has renewed public debate in Ghana over the balance between press freedom, free expression, and the legal consequences of publishing unverified claims online.