New Patriotic Party (NPP) vice presidential candidate Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia has rubbished claims that he benefitted financially from the National Democratic Congress (NDC) government in furthering his education.

He described such assertions by the General Secretary of the ruling party as “propaganda and lies”.

“Bawumia’s father joined virtually every political party that existed after independence, from the Northern Peoples Party, then when the minority parties came together to form the United Party (UP), he joined that party as well. He later joined the CPP and he became the District Commissioner. He further joined Dr Limann’s party where he was made the Minister for Cocoa Affairs. Until his death, he was the Chairman of the Council of State, under ex President J.J Rawlings and that is when he got scholarship for his son Mahamudu Bawumia to study abroad.

“Upon Bawumia’s return from abroad, Dr Kwabena Duffour was the Governor of the Bank of Ghana, and because of his father’s position he got a job at the Bank of Ghana where he was gradually promoted to become the deputy Governor of the Bank of Ghana. He is a true NDC person whom the NPP has taken as their running mate,” Asiedu Nketia said.

However, in a statement, Dr. Bawumia said: “I would like to state for the record that the NDC has had nothing to do with my entire education and I have never been on Government of Ghana scholarship for my studies abroad.

“What is clear is that the NDC has lost the argument on issues and now resorted to attacking my person with fabricated lies. That strategy will fail. You cannot run a country with propaganda and lies.”

Below is the full statement:

RE: NDC MADE DR. BAWUMIA SUCCESSFUL IN LIFE My attention has been drawn to the above story reported by Ghanaweb on October 6th, 2016 (http://www.ghanaweb.com/GhanaHomePage/NewsArchive/NDC-made-Bawumia-successful-in-life-Asiedu-Nketia-475118). In this story, the NDC General Secretary, Asiedu Nketia is reported to have said that the NDC facilitated my education by granting me a scholarship to study abroad. I am also informed that a similar statement was made by the Minister for Agriculture, Mr. Limuna recently in Walewale.

While my initial instinct was to laugh off and ignore such a palpable lie, I have come to understand that the NDC machinery specializes in the fabrication of such stories and would continue repeating them until they assume ring of truth.

I would like to state for the record that the NDC has had nothing to do with my entire education and I have never been on Government of Ghana scholarship for my studies abroad. My education history is as follows:

1969-1975 Sakasaka Primary School (Tamale)

1975-1982 Tamale Secondary School, Ghana – GCE O and A-Levels

1982-1984 Associate of the Chartered Institute of Bankers (A.C.I.B) –U.K Emile Woolf College of Accountancy, London, England

1984-1986 B.Sc. Economics (First Class Hons.) University of Buckingham, UK

1987- 1988 M.Sc. Development Economics University of Oxford , UK (Lincoln College)

1991 - 1995 Ph.D. in Economics Simon Fraser University, Burnaby, British Columbia., Canada

In fact the NDC as a party was only formed in 1992 when I was mid-way through my Ph.D studies at Simon Fraser University which was financed through fellowships and teaching assistantships.

So which part of my education (from primary school to Ph.D) was financed by the NDC? When did the government of Ghana ever offer me a scholarship? I will ask the General Secretary of the NDC to respond and not run away like they did when I presented them 170 facts from my recent lecture.

This is not how politics should be done. Why would persons such as the General Secretary of the NDC and a Minister of State engage in the deliberate fabrication and peddling of such a falsehood? If they are looking for something to attack me on they can at least start with a response to the 170 facts from my lecture.

What is clear is that the NDC has lost the argument on issues and now resorted to attacking my person with fabricated lies. That strategy will fail. You cannot run a country with propaganda and lies.

……signed…… Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia 2016 NPP Vice Presidential Candidate