IMANI President Franklin Cudjoe under intense scrutiny over Bawumia policy claims

Franklin Cudjoe, President of the policy think tank IMANI, has come under heavy criticism for what has been described as a bizarre claim on his Facebook page regarding the 33 policies Vice President Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia spearheaded.

In a post on his Facebook page earlier this week, Franklin Cudjoe surprisingly claimed the policies have no impact on the economy.

However, in a detailed response through an open letter by Political Communications Consultant Dr. Ekow Acquah, the IMANI President's assertion was deemed politically motivated to discredit Dr. Bawumia’s efforts.

Among the 33 policies led by Dr. Bawumia are the delivery of medical supplies via drones to remote areas, mobile money interoperability, the construction of hospitals in districts without medical facilities, digitalization of public services, and the establishment of national property and identity systems. The Communications Consultant questioned how a seasoned policy think tank head could downplay such important initiatives, which are pillars for the transformation of modern economies.

"Your latest piece of baseless and shocking analysis on your Facebook page was your shocking claim that Bawumia’s 33 policies he has championed as Vice President, have no impact on the economy and the country," Dr. Acquah wrote to Franklin Cudjoe.

"Are you serious? Are you the same Franklin Cudjoe of IMANI?" he queried, adding, "indeed when I first saw this bizarre claim on your page, I instantly wrote it off as coming from a parody account, but upon further checks, I found out it was really coming from you, head of a policy think tank with over 20 years' experience!"

He continued, "Mr. Franklin, are you really serious that transformative policies, which Dr. Bawumia spearheaded, such as One Constituency, One Ambulance, Zipline Medical Drone, Mobile Money Interoperability, national biometric identity through Ghanacard, national property address system, digitalization of public services, Agenda 111, Zongo Development Fund, and many others, have not been impactful and have no impact on the economy? Even if you are being politically mischievous, you should be concerned about your integrity."

Dr. Acquah further asked, "How could any serious-minded policy analyst claim that the innovative and internationally acclaimed delivery of essential medical supplies through drones to over 2000 clinics and hospitals in remote communities in the country on a daily basis has no impact?"

"Because of your hatred for Bawumia, you choose to play down the impact of an intervention which even Kamala Harris, the US Vice President, commended Ghana for. Get serious Mr. Franklin," he blasted the IMANI boss.

Below is the full letter:

WHEN A THINK TANK BECOMES AN EMPTY TANK - AN OPEN LETTER TO IMANI'S FRANKLIN CUDJOE OVER HIS CLAIM ON BAWUMIA'S 33 POLICIES

Dear Franklin,

I hope this letter finds you well and succeeds in reawakening you, bringing you back on track toward the noble think tank duties you were once noted for.

Without a doubt, you have built a fine reputation for yourself, having strongly built IMANI, alongside your partners, from scratch to one recognized and respected by international organizations.

As a think tank, IMANI, which you have played a starring role in shaping, has played significant roles in conducting research, sharing ideas, critiquing policies, and providing intellectual platforms for policy dialogues, all geared towards the progress of our country.

However, in recent times, as head of one of the leading policy think tanks in the country, you have reduced this starring and noble role of think tanks, specifically IMANI, to a comedy show, with your social media handles as platforms.

For reasons best known to you, you have reduced your once admirable analytical prowess to a lazy, armchair Facebook analyst, always making deductions and analogies that are, at best, baseless and ridiculous.

Anyone who follows you, including your ardent admirers like me, would have realized how you struggle to make meaningful, intellectual analysis based on data and facts, as you used to do. You now reduce serious issues of national concern to satire, and you hide behind satirical analogies to attack those you despise, especially Dr. Bawumia.

Your latest piece of baseless and shocking analysis on your Facebook page was your shocking claim that Bawumia’s 33 policies he has championed as Vice President have no impact on the economy and the country.

Are you serious? Are you the same Franklin Cudjoe of IMANI? Indeed, when I first saw this bizarre claim on your page, I instantly wrote it off as coming from a parody account, but upon further checks, I found out it was really coming from you, head of a policy think tank with over 20 years of experience!

Mr. Franklin, are you really serious that the transformative policies, which Dr. Bawumia spearheaded, such as One Constituency, One Ambulance, Zipline Medical Drone, Mobile Money Interoperability, national biometric identity through Ghanacard, national property address system, digitalization of public services, Agenda 111, Zongo Development Fund, and many others, have not been impactful and have no impact on the economy? Even if you are being politically mischievous, you should be concerned about your integrity.

Get serious, Mr. Franklin, because the more you allow your hatred for Dr. Bawumia to consume you, or the more you desperately try to prove to the NDC that you are neutral, you end up embarrassing yourself, your hard-earned reputation, your colleagues at IMANI, and of course, IMANI itself.

How could any serious-minded policy analyst claim that the innovative and internationally acclaimed delivery of essential medical supplies through drones to over 2,000 clinics and hospitals in remote communities in the country, on a daily basis, has no impact? Because of your hatred for Bawumia, you choose to play down the impact of an intervention that even Kamala Harris, the US Vice President, commended Ghana for. Get serious, Mr. Franklin.

Mr. Franklin, how do you play down the impact of mobile money interoperability on the Ghanaian economy? As a leader of a think tank, are you not aware that thanks to the successful implementation of mobile money interoperability, Ghana is now the number one country in Africa as far as financial inclusion is concerned? As a leader of a policy think tank, do you not know that financial inclusion is a key and basic element towards transforming an economy? Get serious, Mr. Franklin!

As a leader of a policy think tank, how do you explain to the world that, in a contemporary economy, a digital national identity system and a digital national address system have no bearing and impact, as pillars for economic transformation? Are you really serious, Mr. Franklin?

Dr. Bawumia, even before he became Vice President, wrote in his 2010 book about the need for developing countries like Ghana to establish strong economic pillars such as national identity systems and national address systems and increase financial inclusion as basic pillars for economic transformation. This is how Europe, where you get your funding from, developed economically, and that's what Dr. Bawumia has done through the opportunity he's had as Vice President.

He has used the opportunity he's had as Vice President to implement what he recommended to African countries in his book, and those are pillars and principles for economic transformation. It is sad you don't know this, or you choose not to know!

As for your assertion that the Agenda 111 Hospital Bawumia championed is not beneficial because none has been completed, the least said about it, the better. Such weird thoughts rather expose your recent lazy approach to intellectual analysis. Nearly 100 hospitals being built across the country are not beneficial because none has been completed? How funny! Your thoughts are like saying a student is wasting their time in school because they have not yet completed school.

Mr. Franklin, in your deep hatred for Bawumia and your desperate quest to prove to the NDC you are neutral, you can continue to be delusional about your status and your influence. What you do not know is that you're rather embarrassing IMANI, the organization you have built over the years.

And what you do not realize is that you are only fooling a few of your audience on social media, who will jump at every nonsense you write and give you a few "likes" and praises. These think-alikes do not represent discerning members of society who appreciate the impacts of the 33 policies Dr. Bawumia has proposed and spearheaded as Vice President.

The pregnant women in remote parts of Ghana, who have been rescued by drones delivering timely essential medical supplies, appreciate what Dr. Bawumia has done!

The market women, who used to be attacked on the highways because they carried cash to the markets, but now have the luxury of saving their money on mobile money wallets, which work like bank accounts, appreciate what Dr. Bawumia has done.

Discerning Ghanaians, who have seen the real impact of digitalization on effectively battling corruption and saving the nation and the economy millions of dollars through identity fraud, appreciate what Dr. Bawumia has done.

Ghanaians, who were excluded and never had any means of identity, both for themselves and their property, appreciate Dr. Bawumia's efforts in ensuring a robust national identity and property address system.

Mr. Franklin, you can hate Dr. Bawumia all you like! No one can stop that. But your ignorance and hatred can be exposed. Now it is so obvious how you struggle to appease each side of the political divide.

For a man I, and I believe, many others admired for what you did in the past, it is unfortunate you have now reduced the once-revered IMANI from a think tank to an empty tank.

How I wish I could dissociate you from IMANI for the organization to keep its credibility from your inconsistent self. But like conjoined twins, you're inseparable!

It's not too late. You can go back to your former self; a man who worked for the progress of Ghana, not for any other consideration.

A word to the wise...

Best regards,

Dr. Ekow Acquah, Political Communications Consultant.