A former flag bearer hopeful of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), Lawyer Elikplim Agbemava has questioned the competence of Vice President Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia in the wake of the depreciation of the cedi.

The legal practitioner wonders why Dr Bawumia, who the ruling NPP tagged as their “economic guru”, has not been able to put the country’s economy in a good shape some three years after becoming the chairman of the government’s economic team.

Recently, the NPP government established a Forex Development Committee to prevent the recurring depreciation of the cedi. The Committee, which is headed by Finance Minister Ken Ofori-Atta, is to review the current Forex (FX) regime, offer workable alternatives by way of policy interventions which potentially would reduce FX risks in the economy and save the cedi from a free fall.

But in his latest write-up, Mr Agbemava, who once described the Vice President as a “boring noise maker” whose work shows no results, mocked Dr Bawumia for not making it to the team to save the cedi from depreciating.

“Indeed he told us boldly at one of his fraudulent lectures on the economy that he has arrested the Cedi and that the keys to the gallows where our dear currency was imprisoned was safely in the custody of the IGP. ..So much for political hoodwinking,” Agbemava said.

He continued, ” The birthing of the so called FX Committee to investigate the causes for the continuous depreciation of the cedis has finally destroyed the marketing gimmicks associated with the abilities of our Vice President. In opposition he failed to achieve anything as an economist. In government with all the power and influence he claimed to possess he has failed woefully to arrest the Cedi but lied that he had done so.”

Below is Lawyer Agbemava’s statement

THE FX DEVELOPMENT COMMITTEE AND OUR VICE PRESIDENT

Dr. Bawumia once stood on a stage in 2014 to churn out lies about his ability to diagnose the causes of the ailing Ghanaian economy.

The subject on which he spoke was “RESTORING THE VALUE OF THE CEDI”

The lecture at distinguished speaker series has however become so infamous and undignified that Dr. Bawumia’s own party folks avoid the mention of it as if it was a leper’s hand.

Was he credible then? Dr. Bawumia’s political profile as an economic guru was nothing more than a marketing fiction. There is absolutely no doubt about his academic qualifications.

What I want to draw attention to is the fact that every professional’s acumen is not judged by the grades he/she obtained in school at whatever level. Even Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo being the world’s foremost footballers are judged by the trophies they have won not even the number of matches played.

Same for self acclaimed economists such as Dr. Bawumia. Economists must show the general public how they are able to transform a society from one in poverty to one in prosperity before being showered with high praises. What are Dr. Bawumia’s achievements as an economist? He only dangled his PHD in front of Ghanaians and got away with the reputation of being an expert economist who understood the exchange rate woes of Ghana and who possessed the ability to arrest the Cedi!

Indeed he told us boldly at one of his fraudulent lectures on the economy that he has arrested the Cedi and that the keys to the gallows where our dear currency was imprisoned was safely in the custody of the IGP.

So much for political hoodwinking.

I have long held the view that the boosting of the value of the Cedi does not lie in the delivery of long lectures by a vice presidential candidate.

The birthing of the so called FX Committee to investigate the causes for the continuous depreciation of the cedis has finally destroyed the marketing gimmicks associated with the abilities of our Vice President. In opposition he failed to achieve anything as an economist. In government with all the power and influence he claimed to possess he has failed woefully to arrest the Cedi but lied that he had done so.

The problems associated with our currency requires honest and bold measures. They will be painful, pose threats to already existing vested interests and test to its full limits our independence and sovereignty. I am not oblivious of the challenge ahead but what we must not do is to pretend the solution lies in any FX committee or the kind of third world economic management we practice. Third world economic management is when you become an expert in managing scarcity rather than planning for an abundant harvest. When you practice third world economic management you don’t plant so you don’t reap. You only maintain poverty at its current levels.

The FX committee is an admission of failure. It is another con. Finally it is a death blow to end the suffering of a severely wounded Dr. Bawumia.

To conclude I hope we can now rid ourselves of the childish sensationalism associated with being an economic guru Vice President and get down to serious work that will take our people out of poverty.