Government, private sector partnership not negotiable – Bawumia

Vice President Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia, has reiterated government’s commitment to partnering with the private sector in its development agenda for the country, describing the sector as a “partner in the development process and not a competitor of government”.

Speaking at the 2019 edition of the Ishmael Yamson & Associates Business roundtable at the La Palm Beach Hotel in Accra on Wednesday, Dr Bawumia said the partnership between the two is not one that can be compromised or negotiated under any circumstance.

The 2019 edition of the Ishmael Yamson & Associates Business roundtable was on the theme: “The Ghana We Want”.

Dr. Bawumia said while delivering the keynote address that government is very much aware of the kind of energy that the private sector can unleash to support its efforts aimed at transforming the country’s economy, the reason why most of the reforms introduced by the Akufo-Addo administration thus far have been in partnership with the sector.

“Everything that we have tried to do has been with the private sector. The port reforms, when we went paperless at the port, today it is very smooth to clear your goods at the port. It was not easy but we engaged the private sector, and they worked with us and amazingly it was one major project that cost the government zero, the private sector paid for it,” he said.

He continued: “If you look at what we have done at DVLA, it is with the private sector, the passport office project is with the private sector, so we have to bring the private sector on board to bring about the transformation we want because it turns to be a more efficient sector than the public sector.”

Dealing with Corruption

To achieve “the Ghana We Want”, Dr. Bawumia noted that a high level of commitment is required to “make corruption unattractive on a sustainable basis”.

“When you are fighting corruption, as I say, you are fighting ‘demons and principalities’. So you always have to be on top of it because they come in different shapes and they reinvent themselves,” he stated.

He expressed great pleasure at the fact that the Special Prosecutor has started work saying the government has a lot of confidence in the office to do a good job for the people of Ghana.

“We have not had this [Special Prosecutor Office] since independence, it has been over sixty years if it takes a few years to get it moving then as a country, we have made a lot of progress,” he said