Dr Mahamudu Bawumia, the vice-presidential nominee of the main opposition New Patriotic Party (NPP) proved himself to be “solid gold” on Thursday, 8 September with his lecture on the economy, Dr Arthur Kobina Kennedy has said.

“Dr Bawumia deserves congratulations for turning this campaign to a discussion of substantive issues,” the former flag bearer aspirant said in a statement, adding: “… He was solid gold yesterday.”

Dr Arthur Kennedy, however, criticised Dr Bawumia for joining the ethnocentric fray with some part of his presentation.

Below is Dr Arthur Kennedy’s full statement:

There have been a lot of comments on Dr. Bawumia's lecture on the economy yesterday. The partisan commentary began with claims that he had been denied a venue by the government. It is a shame that our media houses could not untangle that to let us know the truth.

Then following the lecture, some in the NPP, who should know better, went into overdrive with praise. Prof. HKP talked of picking a running mate who could "carry his weight" etc., leaving the unfortunate impression that the NDC running could not carry his weight. VP Amissah-Arthur, Bawumia's credentials notwithstanding, is no slouch. He has been a lecturer, a governor of the Bank of Ghana and a World Bank consultant. Politically, he helped the NDC to retain Central Region while the NPP lost the Northern Region and Walewale! So there, my friends, is the weight issue!

To return to the lecture, Dr. Bawumia deserves congratulations for turning this campaign to a discussion of substantive issues. The competing promises about dams, etc., and insults back and forth were making both the President and the NPP Presidential candidate look and sound a bit silly. Dr. Bawumia drew my ire with his work on Togo and ill-fated attempt to join Dzifa Attivor in the ethno-religious gutter but he was solid gold yesterday.

Mr. Terkper has responded, albeit not with the same eloquence, to the issues raised by Dr. Bawumia.

To date though, my top marks go to IMANI Ghana. Their response was timely, substantive and balanced. I have had occasion to take IMANI to task recently but they get an A on this one. While their presentation was undermined by their attempts to respond to NPP attacks, it was excellent from beginning to end.

I urge the media and academia to weigh in, to give us light, not heat. Let this debate and the rest of this campaign be substantive and make us all proud.

Finally, I can't wait for the VP debate between Dr. Bawumia and V.P. Amissah-Arthur. Just a caveat though. They should remember their audience are ordinary people at Suame, Esikado, Kolungugu and Anloga, etc. Let the language be the language of the streets and the people.

God bless you all.