Current economic crisis due to COVID-19, Russia-Ukraine war – Ahiagbah replies Ohene Ntow

The Director of Communication of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Richard Ahiagbah, has responded to an assertion by Nana Ohene Ntow, a former General Secretary of the party, that Vice President Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia has failed in the management of the economy.

In a post shared on Facebook, on Monday, June 10, 2024, Ahiagbah stated that Dr. Bawumia's economic credentials remain unabated.

He indicated that the evidence abounds that current economic challenges in Ghana are due to external factors including the Russia-Ukraine war and the COVID-19 pandemic.

The NPP communication director also stated that the data shows that Ghana’s economy was in good shape before the external factors struck.

"Dr. Bawumia's competence and ability to effectively manage Ghana's economy as president remain unquestioned.

"The current economic challenges, which may have influenced Nana Ohene Ntow's remarks, are primarily due to external factors such as COVID-19 and the Russia-Ukraine War and do not accurately reflect Bawumia's capabilities," he wrote.

He added, "It would be beneficial for Nana Ohene-Ntow to revisit economic data from 2017, 2018, and 2019, when the economy was growing at an average of 7% before the impact of COVID-19. This would provide a more accurate assessment of the current government's economic management record."

What Ohene Ntow said:

The former General Secretary of the NPP brushed off suggestions that the flagbearer of the party, Vice President Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia, cannot be blamed for the current state of Ghana’s economy.

According to Ohene Ntow, a leading member of Alan Kyerematen’s Movement for Change, the only reason Dr. Bawumia was chosen by the party as the vice-presidential candidate in 2007 was that President Akufo-Addo touted his economic credentials and that former President John Agyekum Kufuor urged that he should be accepted if he could help fix the economy.

Ohene Ntow, who made these remarks in an interview on Peace FM on Monday, June 6, 2024, said that the vice president, who was sold to Ghanaians as an economic expert, is now running away from issues on the current economic challenges in the country, and has now even chosen to rather focus on digitalisation.

"President Akufo-Addo told the NPP and later Ghanaians that 'I’m pleading with you, let me bring Dr. Bawumia because he is the one who can fix the economy and make it boom'... We (the NPP) refused, saying he was not a member of our party. But President Kufuor said that if we don’t choose Bawumia (as the vice-presidential candidate), we would regret it if the economy fails under our watch, and we accepted him.

"Today, Dr. Bawumia runs away when we talk about the economy. He has taken a small section, digitalisation. Digitalisation is important, but it is not the whole economy. If you listen to Dr. Bawumia’s own pronouncements during the campaigns for 2008, 2012, 2016, and 2020 elections and you compare them to the results, and someone tells me that he (Bawumia) is a new factor, I find it very difficult to accept," he said in Twi.

He added, "Ghanaians would also say that President Akufo-Addo told us that he is not an economist and was delegating the economy's running to Bawumia, and we would see wonders. He gave it to him not for one year, not two years, but for the first term of four years, and the second term of four years – 8 years – we saw nothing, and you want another four years?"

BAI/

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