When politicians speak, they love the media to carry their views. So much so that, even when they misspeak, they'll more often than not, come chest-thumping with clarification, hardly a concession.

The media, sadly have become mere parrots of political views, instead of fact-checking and subjecting politicians to a higher threshold in the general public discourse - a topic for another day.

There is a lot of hypocrisy in political discourse and even more doublespeak and double standards across the board, the politicised media scape means interests and narratives supersede the public good and nuance.

Simply put, the job of pulling the brakes on political hypocrisy is not one that interests the captured media, enter social media and its chief archaeologist, "faceless" yet impactful, Receipts Guy.

The political billboard novelty

We woke up to a billboard with the face and message of the Vice President, Mahamudu Bawumia, yet it had triggered angst among his base and the ruling New Patriotic Party (NPP).

Receipts Guy had put a mirror that was reflecting Bawumia’s views, yet it was unpalatable. His target was clear and no cries of reverse campaigning for Bawumia will change his mind, and I align with that view.

There is a social media post for almost every nonsense a politician spews today - whether the view is in support or opposition of an issue.

This is at the heart of Receipt Guy's activism, birthed and nurtured on Twitter. The fact that he almost effortlessly digs up posts of decades or days old and with sometimes no caption, is able to strip politicians naked; is nothing short of legendary.

Cries of political bias

For all the excavation Receipts Guy does, with his digital spades, shovelling double standards and axing partisan tomfoolery, he has serially been accused of serving a political interest.

Truth be told, he has a special focus on the people in power and their assigns.

The very people voted and entrusted to administer our commonwealth, yet the very same lot who come with weeping bowls with megaphones asking Receipts to provide receipts of the opposition. Preposterous never made so much sense.

For all it is worth, Receipts Guy is within his rights to expose who he wills. A task, so efficiently and effectively discharged, even his critics most likely admire him in secret.

The response of an X user @qrsyth on this subject is one that this writer strongly agrees with. Sena Quashie tweeted on January 31: "Look, even if @receiptsguy is a political ploy by the NDC (which is not true), this is the peak of political marketing against a party I’ve seen in recent times in Ghana. The research and digging that goes into finding the receipts and giving it contextual meaning must be hard."

Look, even if @receiptsguy is a political ploy by the NDC (which is not true), this is the peak of political marketing against a party I’ve seen in recent times in Ghana.

The research and digging that goes into finding the receipts and giving it contextual meaning must be hard

— Sena Quashie (@qrsyth) January 30, 2024

Conclusion

As we march into the 2024 elections, one thing we cannot miss is the role the faceless lawyer has played and is playing in dictating political discourse on X.

While at it, he is pushing some traditional media to sit up and riling politicians because he held a mirror that reflected their own deceit, or is it receipts?

Excavating ex parte, free from any certiorari and with an efficiency quo warranto.

God bless Ghana.