NDC calls out Bawumia on 150 factories claim: Another useless rhetoric from ‘a high office’, it says

The National Democratic Congress (NDC) has described as bare-faced lies claims by Vice President Mahamudu Bawumia that the NPP government has built 150 factories compared to only two built by the Mahama administration.

According to the NDC, the Vice President ought not to be dignified with any response for his useless rhetoric but given the high office he occupies and his penchant for mischief, the party deems it necessary to set the records straight so unsuspecting Ghanaians are not hoodwinked by his lies yet again.

Vice President Mahamudu Bawumia made his claims at an NPP rally in Kumawu over the weekend.

The party argued that the erstwhile NDC/Mahama administration established strategic, high-priority State-owned factories that anchored growth in key sectors of the Ghanaian economy namely the $1 billion-dollar Atuabo Gas processing plant, the Elmina Fish processing plant, the Buipe Sheanut factory, Komenda sugar factory and the revamping of the Kumasi shoe factory among others.

National Communications officer of the NDC, Sammy Gyamfi, who responded to the Vice President’s claims in a statement said it is an indisputable fact the Akufo-Addo/Bawumia/NPP government has not built even one state-owned factory since they took office on 7th January 2017.

“Their record relative to the establishment of state-owned factories is zilch. The claim by Dr. Bawumia that this NPP government has built over 150 factories is therefore palpable falsehood.”

“We must hasten to point out to the Vice President that if his so-called 150 factories claim relates to the government’s poorly-implemented 1D1F program, then he needs to educate himself and cure his own ignorance about the nature of their so-called 1D1F initiative.”

“This is because, none of the said 1D1F factories, was actually built by the Akufo-Addo/Bawumia government,” the statement said.

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Below is the full text of the statement

NATIONAL DEMOCRATIC CONGRESS (NDC) RESPONDS TO LIES PEDDLED BY VICE PRESIDENT MAHAMUDU BAWUMIA DURING AN NPP RALLY AT KUMAWU OVER THE WEEKEND

The National Democratic Congress has become aware of some pedestrian and mischievous lies peddled by the Vice President, Dr. Mahumudu Bawumia in a viral video while addressing NPP supporters at a campaign rally at Kumawu over the weekend.

Ordinarily, one ought not to dignify such useless rhetoric coming from Alhaji Bawumia with any response but given the high office he occupies and his penchant for mischief, we deem it necessary to set the records straight so unsuspecting Ghanaians are not hoodwinked by his lies yet again.

1.) CLAIM 1: “NDC Built only Two (2) factories but the NPP has built over 150 factories”

This claim by the Vice President is a bare-faced lie. For the records, the erstwhile NDC/Mahama administration established strategic, high-priority State-owned factories that anchored growth in key sectors of the Ghanaian economy.

The following State-owned factories were established by the erstwhile NDC/Mahama administration:

• The $1 billion-dollar Atuabo Gas processing plant
• Elmina Fish processing plant
• Buipe Sheanut factory
• Komenda sugar factory
• Revamping of the Kumasi shoe factory among others.

It is an indisputable fact that the Akufo-Addo/Bawumia/NPP government has not built even one state-owned factory since they took office on 7th January 2017. Their record relative to the establishment of state-owned factories is zilch. The claim by Dr. Bawumia that this NPP government has built over 150 factories is therefore palpable falsehood.

We must hasten to point out to the Vice President that if his so-called 150 factories claim relates to the government’s poorly-implemented 1D1F program, then he needs to educate himself and cure his own ignorance about the nature of their so-called 1D1F initiative. This is because, none of the said 1D1F factories, was actually built by the Akufo-Addo/Bawumia government.

On the contrary, 1D1F projects are purely private-sector initiatives that are supported by government/state agencies in one way or the other. While some of the projects under the 1D1F are new projects, most of them are existing companies/factories. What Bawumia must understand is that facilitating and/or supporting a private initiative as has been half-heartedly done by the Akufo-Addo/Bawumia government under the 1D1F initiative, is not the same as building a factory.

It is instructive to note that several of the factories under 1D1F which government claims to be operational, have been found by several media networks who have probed the issue to be either non-existent or non-functional. We shall in the coming days embark on a full-scale expose’ on the Akufo-Addo/Bawumia NPP monumental 1D1F scam.

On the other hand, if the basis of Bawumia’s claim was about new and/or existing factories whose establishments and operations were facilitated by government, then he lied, as the facts show that the erstwhile NDC government rolled out a robust plan of public-private partnerships and provided stimulus packages for over a hundred (120) factories operating in various sectors of the economy as listed in the table below:

LIST OF 120 FACTORIES / COMPANIES FACILITATED AND SUPPORTED BY THE MILLS/MAHAMA NDC ADMINISTRATION

2.) CLAIM 2: “Guinea fowls flew to Burkina Faso under John Mahama”

This claim by Bawumia is nothing but a deliberately contrived lie that Bawumia and his ilk continue to rehash. That the Vice President will continue to dabble in this cheap spin reveals how low he has descended.

There is absolutely no truth in this allegation.

Indeed, it is noteworthy to remind Bawumia and his likes that Manasseh Azuri Awuni, the journalist who investigated the guinea fowl production and marketing joint venture project by the Savannah Accelerated Development Authority (SADA) and the Asongtaba Cottage Industry is on public record to have refuted this claim.

Ghanaians will recall that the Guinea fowl story published by Manasseh Azuri had to do with an allegation to the effect that, Asongtaba Cottage Industry was paid by GYEEDA to train some youth in guinea fowl rearing but failed to do so; an allegation, the company refuted. It had nothing to do with Guinea fowls flying to Burkina Faso as claimed by the lying one, Alhaji Bawumia.

In a write-up authored by Manasseh Azuri Awuni which was widely published by the media on or about 20th December 2018, Manasseh in refuting this lie, stated among other things that:

“I find it distasteful that we have reduced this serious scandal to a joke, which people laugh about as evidenced in the reaction that greeted the president’s remark. I say it is a joke because the guinea fowls did not fly. At no point did it emerge in my investigation that the guinea fowls had flown to Burkina Faso. And nobody said that anywhere.”

In any case, it should be obvious to any reasonable mind, that guinea fowls by their nature, are not migration birds and do not have the capacity to fly from Ghana to Burkina Faso.

Clearly, the ridiculous claim by Bawumia that Guinea fowls flew to Burkina Faso under the NDC/Mahama government is an outrageous lie that should be coming from a rabid NPP serial caller operating under a drunken stupor, not a Vice President and Head of the Economic Management team whose hopelessness has led to the collapse and bankruptcy of the Ghanaian economy.

Dr. Bawumia should for once take the people of Ghana seriously given the disastrous outcome of his hopeless leadership of the management team of our economy, and not be indulging in the nuisance comedy of the sort displayed on that campaign platform.

Apart from his obvious uselessness and rudderless management of Ghana’s economy, he has proven himself unfit to come anywhere near the leadership of this country due to his comical posturing.

The lying one, Alhaji Bawumia, must stop rehashing this ridiculous and senseless lie as it only undermines his own intelligence and makes a mockery of the high office he occupies.

Signed.

SAMMY GYAMFI ESQ.

(National Communication Officer)