A political science lecturer at the University of Cape Coast (UCC) in the Central Region, Mr Jonathan Asante Otchere, has said the governing New Patriotic Party (NPP) will have a daunting task defending the records of Vice President Mahamadu Bawumia if he emerges as the flagbearer of the party for 2024 general elections.

Relatively, he said the party will have a much easier task defending the records of former trades minister Alan Kwadwo Kyerematen should he emerge as the flag bearer because Dr Bawumia, over the years, has spoken with exaggerations and nothing more.

He said the confidence that people reposed in the vice president is not what he had exhibited in office.

Mr Okyere explained that the vice president has tainted his own record stemming from the economic mismanagement that has gone on under his watch as the head of the Economic Management Team (EMT).

"Dr Bawumia should have ensured that the economy did not deteriorate to use that as his launch pad for the presidency," he suggested.

''Some of us believed that the president is an outright politician but the vice president is an economist but he ended up spewing so many lies and spoke with exaggerations," he noted.

"What has gone on with the economy is not something the vice president, especially after being described as the economic ‘whiz kid’, can be proud of," he added.

"NPP has no trustworthiness and has lost the moral authority to continue to govern this country and that represents Dr Bawumia as well," he asserted.

"The NPP doesn’t know what message they are going to give to Ghanaians when it comes to the economy," he said.

Mr Okyere threw in this assertion while reacting to the vice president’s meeting with the majority caucus at which he announced his decision to run for president.

The university lecturer spoke on Accra 100.5 FM’s evening news on Wednesday, May 3, 2023.

According to him, Mr Kyerematen can exonerate himself but the vice president cannot, as far as the management of the economy is concerned.

He said Dr Bawumia has failed in his area of advertised expertise and has jumped ship to digitalisation.

"What is the role of digitalisation in the fight against corruption?" Mr Okyere quizzed, adding: "The vice president continues to champion digitalisation and the country continues to lose GHS27 million to corruption."

"What animal is that digitalisation?" he asked again, saying that the interface is there and has led to huge sums of money being lost to corruption as contained in the Auditor's Report.