The Vice President and Presidential Candidate of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia, has fiercely responded to former President John Mahama’s criticism of the current government, challenging him to a public debate on the economic performance and record of the two governments.
Dr. Bawumia described Mahama’s claims of NPP failure as baseless, arguing that the data paints a starkly different picture.
Speaking to a charged crowd in the Krowor Constituency, Dr. Bawumia dismissed Mahama’s comments as uninformed.
“I hear he has written on his Facebook that the NPP is a failed government. Then I said maybe he doesn’t understand the economy. He either does not read the data or he does not understand the data,” Dr. Bawumia said to loud cheers.
Dr. Bawumia outlined several key economic indicators to support his assertion that the NPP has a better record than Mahama’s administration.
“When it comes to the economy, the overall GDP during your government is lower than ours. We have performed better than you. In terms of agriculture growth, industry growth, budget deficit to GDP, primary balance, trade balance, current account balance, and gross international reserves—we have outperformed you,” he said.
Addressing exchange rate management, he explained: “Under the NDC, the cedi depreciated by 74% over eight years without a global crisis. Under the NPP, even with COVID-19, the Russia-Ukraine war, and a global economic recession, the cedi has depreciated by 72%. If they say we have mismanaged the cedi, then they mismanaged it worse without a crisis.”
Dr. Bawumia also stressed the government’s achievements in infrastructure and job creation, claiming superior performance in all sectors.
“We have built more roads, airports, railways, hospitals, schools, courts, and sanitation facilities than him. We’ve also created 2.3 million jobs compared to his era of unemployment. On every indicator, we have done better,” he declared.
On digitalization, he added: “We brought the Ghana Card, the digital address system, mobile money interoperability, e-pharmacy, paperless ports, and e-health. Mahama’s record on digitalization doesn’t come close.”l
Responding to Mahama’s labelling of the NPP as a “failed government,” Dr. Bawumia turned sarcastic.
“He said we are a failed government. I want to tell him we have failed to do four years of dumsor. We have failed to cancel teacher and nursing training allowances. We have failed in the policy of no chalk in schools. We have failed to collapse the NHIS and the ambulance service, as he did. So, if there’s any failure, his government was a failure,” he said.
Ending his remarks, Dr. Bawumia issued a direct challenge to Mahama.
“He said he performed better than us. If he believes that, he should come for a debate. Let’s go one-on-one, and we will see who has succeeded and who has failed,” Bawumia stressed, as the crowd erupted in applause.