The Flagbearer of the ruling New Patriotic Party (NPP), Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia, on Wednesday, February 21, 2024, announced a team that would help him draw his manifesto for the 2024 elections.

The manifesto committee of Dr. Bawumia, the Vice President of Ghana, would be chaired by the Minister for Parliamentary Affairs and Member of Parliament (MP) for Suame, Osei Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu.

It also has the likes of former Black Stars player, Asamoah Gyan, as Chairman of the Youth and Sports sub-committee, and Ing. Kwabena Agyapong as the Housing and Infrastructure sub-committee chairman.

Rumours have it that the chairpersons of the various sub-committees would be ministers of the sectors they head should Dr Bawumia become President of Ghana on January 7, 2025.

One important part of the NPP flagbearer's manifesto, which many Ghanaians would be looking up to, would be his plans and policies for Ghana’s economy, given the economic challenges the country is currently facing.

The vice president chose no other person than Dr. Mark Assibey-Yeboah, a former Chairman of the Finance Committee of Parliament and former MP for New Juaben South, to lead the team to come up with his declaration of intent on Ghana’s economy.

If the rumours are true, Dr Assibey-Yeboah is likely to be Dr Bawumia’s first Minister of Finance if he wins the December 7, 2024 presidential elections.

Dr. Assibey-Yeboah has been an ardent critic of the Akufo-Addo government and was rumoured to be the favourite among the rank and file of the NPP to replace Ken Ofori-Atta as finance minister.

He has, on several occasions, criticised the implementation of several policies of the Akufo-Addo government, including the Free Senior High School and the Electronic Transfer Levy (E-Levy).

Prior to Ghana returning to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for a bailout, Dr. Assibey-Yeboah warned of harsh economic conditions and called on the government to resort to the Fund at an earlier time ahead of its July 1, 2022, decision.

Here is a brief profile of Dr Assibey-Yeboah:

Dr. Mark Assibey-Yeboah is a Ghanaian politician and member of the 6th and 7th parliaments of the Fourth Republic of Ghana (from 2013 to 2020), representing the New Juaben South Constituency in the Eastern Region on the ticket of the NPP.

He is a Christian and was born on March 2, 1974. He comes from Obo-Kwahu, a town in the Kwahu South District of the Eastern Region of Ghana.

During his term as an MP, Dr. Assibey-Yeboah served as the Chairman of the Finance Committee of Parliament.

As chair, he led many engagements toward sound economic indicators of government and was noted for demanding accountability from the government.

He was also a member of the Sports Committee of the 6th Parliament.

Before venturing into politics, Dr. Assibey-Yeboah was a lecturer between 2009 and 2010 at the Ghana Institute of Management and Public Administration (GIMPA), a senior economist at the Bank of Ghana between 2011 and 2012, and a lecturer at the Ghana Technology University College from 2011 to 2012.

He has also worked as a lecturer at the University of Tennessee and as an adjunct faculty lecturer at Milligan College – both in the United States of America.

He was also a board member of the ADB Bank Ghana from August 2018– 2021. He is a member of the American Economic Association.

Educational background of Dr Assibey-Yeboah:

The former MP attended Presbyterian Boys' Secondary School, Legon, and the Ghana Secondary School, Koforidua, where he obtained his GCE Ordinary Level and GCE Advanced Level, respectively.

Dr. Assibey-Yeboah holds a BSc (Hons) in Agricultural Economics degree from the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST).

He also holds an MS (Agricultural and Resource Economics) from the University of Delaware, USA.

He also holds an MA and a PhD, both in Economics from the University of Tennessee, USA, specialising in International Macroeconomics, Monetary Economics and Econometrics.

Some of his research works have been published in reputable journals, including the Economic Record, the International Journal for Finance and Economics, the Journal for International Trade and Economic Development, and The North American Journal of Economics and Finance.

BAI/AE

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