Today in History: Adongo challenges Bawumia to ‘face to face’ debate on economy

National Democratic Congress Member of Parliament for Bolgatanga Central, Isaac Adongo in February 2020, challenged Vice President Dr Mahamadu Bawumia to an open debate on Ghana’s economy.

According to the leading opposition MP, the challenge was to afford Ghanaians the opportunity to appreciate the true state of the economy which he said was worse than how the government had painted it to be.

Read the full article as first published by peacefmonline.com below

A leading member of the National Democratic Congress’ (NDC), Isaac Adongo has challenged Vice President Mahamudu Bawumia to a debate on the country’s economy.

According to the Bolgatanga Central MP, “face to face” interaction would afford Ghanaians the chance to assess figures being churned out by the government on the country’s economy.

Speaking at a forum organised by the Coalition for Restoration -- under the theme ‘Assessing the three-year reign of President Akufo-Addo’-- at Labone in Accra, Mr. Adongo said he would resign from politics forever if the vociferous Veep is able to defend the government’s picture of the economy.

He said the challenge was to ensure Dr. Bawumia does not “hide on a separate platform to produce his own data” after the Vice President himself asked the NDC to challenge him with counter figures.

“I want to meet him face to face and ask him to defend these numbers in the full glare of Ghanaians. If they are able to find any magic to dispute the cooking they are doing, I will resign from politics for good,” the Parliamentarian said amid applause from NDC faithful who thronged the forum.

Speaking at a maiden Town Hall meeting in Kumasi, Ashanti Region, Dr. Bawumia painted a glossy picture of the economy under the three-year watch of the NPP government.

He reiterated previous assertions that the NPP has performed better than the erstwhile government led by John Mahama and the NDC.

But challenging the Vice President, Dr. Adongo said the government only arrived at the appealing figures on the economy after “cooking” them.

He iterated that the primary balance which the government has touted as being in surplus for the first time in three years is false.

He also said the Economic Management Team massaged the figures by excluding some $15 billion from the government’s expenditure adding "if that amount is added before calculating the primary balance, the figure would stand around 3.5 percent."