A letter to Dr Bawumia

By Andrews Krow

Greetings Dr Bawumia,

After listening to the harsh and derogatory words you used to describe the opposition, I asked myself this question; Why should we go out of our way to encourage and even subsidise opposition in some jurisdictions?

The explanation is of course, that we have hit upon the device of the "official opposition" as means of keeping the Government of the day "up to scratch" without sabotaging the conduct of Government business. In one of my letters addressed to you when you were in opposition, I wrote that it is the duty of the opposition not to obstruct,but to submit the activities of the proposals of the Government to searching criticism,to make constructive suggestions and to put forward its own alternative policy plainly so that the general public can make up its mind about the merit of the case.

Per the content of your outburst and subsequent reaction coming from some of your party faithfuls including some journalists allied to your party and government, it seems you want to use your majority and the goodwill you enjoying as needless steamroller instead of accommodating minority claims.

I was taken aback when I heard you say in your interview that the NDC has never understood the economy.The irony in this whole rigmarole is that the very policy implemented by your administration which has generated this argument, was introduced by the very party you described as ignorant and lacked understanding of the economy.

In opposition, you enjoyed unlimited freedom and space which enabled you to put out all kinds of economic theories and prophesies many which turn out to be lies, half truth, conjectures and fake prophesies.

But that is part of the democratic ethics.At all times the existence of an organised opposition is also a reminder that there is an alternative Government available if the incumbent loses the confidence of the masses. It is salutary for your government to know that if it shows signs of "falling down on the job" as we seeing now, there is another body of men who are ready to take it over from them. Intimidation, use of vulgar language, use of the media against the opposition, insults etc will not stop the opposition from executing its part of the democratic contract with the masses.

Doctor, I don't think you should be the right person to assess the minority's understanding of the economy and I hold this position because of the elementary mistakes and unprofessional conduct you displayed in opposition such as,the Togolese voters register issues,the 2001 (dead news) information you picked from IMF website and presented as new, your projection that the Cedi was going to fall flat, prophesied a doom economy, the wrong economic indexes and figures you presented including Ghana's debt and loans, cost of projects which was challenged by your own MP etc.

Your history in terms of economic analysis, projections and suggestions is too horrible to qualify you as an examiner when it comes to assessing the NDC's understanding of the economy.

Apart from the obvious conflict of interest bad odour, investing in board these days is quite a challenge and it has become so because of general lack of control over interest rates.Most companies and countries avoid long-term bonds because of global economic uncertainties and investors knowing bonds inverse relationship to interest rates have started taking certain clever steps aimed at protecting their interest knowing very well that the longer the maturity the higher the price volatility from interest rate movement and at the same time the smaller the coupon the higher the interest rate risk.You understand these economic dynamics more than I do so find it difficult understanding why you would rather chastise the minority for exposing issues which must concern all Ghanaians including yourself.

Doctor,in the circumstances Ghana finds itself,our over dependence on imports,inability of our cedi to compete with major currencies, intermittent low prices of our major commodities,dependence on external loans etc our preference should be for short term quality bonds which has much better risk return tradeoff than what Ken and his cohorts have fixed our necks into.

Our current inflation figure and strength of the cedi cannot be used as high points in justifying why we must settle on this risky venture, as we focus on strengthening the base of the economy, we must focus on arrangements which would enable us reinvest our principal in a rising rate environment hence the reservations expressed by the minority.

Doctor, our political system is structured in a way that,the self centered citizens and professionals will conveniently bury use of logic and Orthodox principles when discussing these issues for fear of victimization, intellectuals will dance around academic logics and principles, journalists will spew fallacies and political actors and fanatics will preach propaganda but in the end,the public court will decide who acted properly or otherwise.

Doctor, one of your deputy finance ministers was on Citi FM to explain the issue but she rather ended up complicating issues for her listeners,the Attorney Generally told CitiFM she knew nothing about the arrangement, your communicators still show lack of understanding of the whole issue and yourself a known speaker when it comes to the economy could also not touch on the technicalities except to describe the opposition as ignorant. This shows lack of coordination and administrative clashes in your government.

You think a foreigner taking 95% of the bond issued must be treated as domestic? How ridiculous and you think the minority should have remained quiet when the issue of conflict of interest is dancing clearly on the walls of the ministry.You have all it takes to suppress complaints by the opposition, you have the goodwill to ruggedly push through this criminal move,you have some media houses and journalists to support perpetuation of this sinful ordeal on us,you have well-trained watchdogs to attack all who raise issues about the deal but my assurance to you is that sophisticated as the Ghanaian voter has become, you shall definitely have it tough soon inside the court of public opinion, posterity will judge all sides and surely, the good over evil principle would hit all of us in the face.

We continue to hear contradictory statements, the Ministry in its statement stated there was a road show, their jackals in the media who have been contracted to defend the deal tell us there wasn't anything like roadshow that it is the best method.You see the result of reckless decisions and how difficult it will always be to defend such wicked decisions.