The opposition NDC parliamentary candidate for Kumawu, Kwasi Amankwaa has ran down the economic prowess of Vice President Dr Mahamadu Bawumia.

Bawumia, who was recently elected to be the 2024 flag bearer of the governing New Patriotic Party (NPP), is seeking to win next year’s polls to revive the economy of the country after seeking a bailout from the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

In the run up to the 2016 elections, Bawumia, who was the main speaker of the policies of the Akufo-Addo-led NPP, always utilised every opp0ortunity to discredit the John Mahama government, while rallying Ghanaians to rise for change.

Popular among his promises were prudent management of the economy, prioritising productivity to curb inflation and currency depreciation among others.

While President Mahama was campaigning for re-election on the back of social infrastructure for economic transformation, Dr. Bawumia mocked his credentials, citing huge borrowing that had burdened the fiscal space of the country.

The NPP Running Mate noted that the NPP would able to accomplish a lot more with less resources unlike the NDC-led government.

For instance, Bawumia had been trumpeting that the NDC government had huge gold and oil revenue at its disposal but because of incompetence, President Maham was not able to introduce programmes that would have positive impact in the lives of the citizenry.

Economic Downturn

After seven years of attaining political power, the NPP government has come under fire for the economic nosedive that has skyrocketed inflation and high cost electricity, water and food.

The government has attributed the economic downturn to the coronavirus pandemic between 2020 and 2021.

However some experts said Ghana recklessly embarked on a borrowing spree before the onset of Covid-19, a sharp contrast to the pledge of utilising state resources to manage the economy.

Again, analysts who backed Bawumia to demonise the IMF bailout under the Mahama administration have expressed shock at how the government crippled the economy and had to rush to the Bretton Woods institution to salvage the economy.

Ghana’s economic status has suffered several downgrades to junk status this year by rating agencies Several following the country’s inability to service its external debts.

Reacting to the hardship and the NPP government’s failure to put things on track on Dwaboase on TV XYZ, Wednesday, Kwasi Amankwaa wondered why Bawumia gathered the courage to step up to lead the NPP after his boss, President Akufo-Addo had sunk the economy.

“Our current economic situation under President Nana Akufo-Addo is worse than the famine situation of 1982 and 1983. Today young people are unable to land jobs; people can’t afford a 3-square meal due to a hyperinflation,” he argued.

“I think Ghanaians must push Dr. Bawumia to answer the same questions he posed to John Mahama in 2015/2016 and described him as incompetent because they are worse off than the very issues he jabbed President Mahama for,”he added.