Mahama goes hard on Bawumia, ‘forces’ him to answer 5 questions on Ghana’s economy

The local economy experienced a downward trend in 2020 after the country was hit by the coronavirus pandemic.

Since its wobbling state following the pandemic and the Russia-Ukraine war, the government has implemented measures to put the economy back on a sound footing.

One of the measures deployed by the government to stabilise the economy was to seek financial assistance from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) over a three year period.

While the economy is witnessing some marginal rebound, Ghanaians continue to experience excruciating hardship coupled with rising cost of living and doing business.

As the elections draw nigh, the flagbearer of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), John Dramani Mahama, has criticised the Vice President and flagbearer of the New Patriotic Party, Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia, for staying mute about matters on the economy.

He asked Dr. Bawumia to explain to Ghanaians why the cedi keeps depreciating against major trading currencies, he also quizzed him on why inflationary pressure remains high, and why the country’s debt level keeps ballooning.

Mahama also said Dr. Bawumia needs to explain why the government borrowed GH¢42 billion from the Bank of Ghana and why he has “ditched” the economy to focus on digitalization.

The aforementioned are the five questions the NDC flagbearer posed to Dr. Bawumia while addressing party faithful at a gathering.

“He used to give lectures every month about how to run an economy, how to fix the economy. He posed 170 questions to my vice president, Amissah Arthur. He should go and answer the 170 questions himself. Indeed, he shouldn’t answer 170 questions; he should answer only three questions. Why is the exchange rate GH¢17 to a dollar? Why has Ghana’s debt risen from 120 billion to 767 billion in 8 years? Question 2, he should come and answer,” Mahama said.

“Question 3, why is inflation where it is? Why did it rise to 54% under your administration for 8 years? Let me add two more. Question 4, why did you borrow GH¢42 billion from the Bank of Ghana? He should come and answer those questions. You don’t need 170 questions. If he wants, he can answer them himself, but Ghanaians are asking him four questions. He should come and answer the four questions and explain to Ghanaians why we are where we are,” he added.

John Dramani Mahama further said, “The last question is, why has he run away from the economy to digitalization? He used to make noise about the economy; today, he can’t mention the economy, it is not in his vocabulary. Anytime he opens his mouth, digitalization. Come and talk about the economy. That’s question 5. Tell him to come and answer them.”

This comes after Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia in 2016 asked Vice President, the late Paa Kwesi Amissah-Arthur, to answer some 170 questions on the ailing economy at the time.

These questions span various aspects of the Ghanaian economy, from fiscal policies to job creation and inflation control.