Bawumia has done to the Ghana Vice Presidency what Walter Mundale did in the US - Prof. Etse Sikanku

Communications Professor, Etse Sikanku has lauded Vice President Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia for the significant transformation he has brought to Ghana's Office of the Vice President since assuming the role in 2017.

Professor Sikanku has authored a book titled "Dr. Bawumia and the Modern Vice Presidency," in which he analyzes the Vice Presidency of Ghana and how Dr. Bawumia has transformed it through his public activism and the impact it has had.

At the book launch in Accra last night ( Friday, June 7), Professor Sikanku praised Dr. Bawumia for not being an armchair Vice President and compared his transformational impact to that of former US Vice President Walter Mondale, who is widely credited with transforming the American Vice Presidency.

"The President is always the focus of media attention. However, the Vice President's Office is just a step away. The institution of the Vice President is as important as the office of the President, but it has largely been reduced to a ceremonial role," said Prof Sikanku at the event.

"He entered the office, took the position and ran with it. He has transformed the office. We see his action, and we see his passion. He has brought dignity to the Office of the Vice President and, to some extent, the Office of the President," he added.

"Bawumia has used his office for social justice and advocacy. He did this by pursuing what he was passionate about. He did this through digitalization, which is pushing the world forward. He has done it in such a way that posterity will be kind to him."

"Dr. Bawumia has done in Ghana what Walter Mondale did in the US for the office of the Vice President."

Professor Sikanku explained that the US Vice Presidency was once reduced to a ceremonial role, with Vice Presidents representing the President at functions and not knowing much about what was happening in government, until Mondale, under President Jimmy Carter, changed that by being impactful and bringing respect to the office, "just as Bawumia has done."

KOD