President Nana Akufo Addo with his vice, Mahamudu Bawumia
When candidate Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo introduced the then obscured and unknown Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia onto the political scene as his running mate for the 2008 elections, many members of the New Patriotic Party NPP raised eyebrows, but Akufo-Addo weathered the storms by successfully arguing that Dr. Bawumia was a shrewd economist and that he needed him to partner him in order to solve the economic challenges of the country if they won.
Dr. Bawumia stormed the political space and made a little impact prior to the 2008 and 2012 general elections. However, things turned out to be completely different in the run-up to the 2016 general elections.
Dr. Bawumia changed his usual calm demeanor and adopted a more fierce and aggressive approach. He started delivering a series of academic speeches and lectures. It was during one of those lectures where he churned out arguably the most memorable political quote since 1992.
“You can engage in all the propaganda you want, but when the fundamentals are weak, the exchange rate will expose you.”
His speeches and lectures resonated with the masses; the media amplified his self-promotion agenda. Seeing how popular and influential Bawumia was becoming among the masses, candidate Akufo-Addo had extra belief in Dr. Bawumia beyond the initial reason why he picked him to partner with him.
Candidate Akufo-Addo started building all his campaign messages around Dr. Bawumia’s rhetoric and imaginary economic mastery. He made strong economic arguments for his would-be government based on the economic wizardry he believed Dr. Bawumia had.
After winning the election, the local currency gained some marginal stability, as head of the Economic Management Team (EMT) Dr. Bawumia heaped praises on himself and the EMT. He enlisted the members of the EMT of which he was the head showered praises on their credentials and concluded “What a solid team.” This indicates that Dr. Bawumia was not side-lined.
Almost eight years into his administration, the economy has not improved, in actual fact, all available evidence suggests that the economy has retrogressed, Ghanaians are worse off, the cost of living is high, the cost of doing business has gone up while standards of living have drastically plummeted.
One would have expected that, Dr. Bawumia would bring his economic knowledge on board to salvage the situation, since that was the main reason for his selection to partner candidate Akufo-Addo.
However, it is glaring that Dr. Bawumia has absolutely no clue on how to address the current economic woes in the country. This is where and when President Akufo-Addo needs Bawumia more than anything else, yet, the economic wizard is unable to bring on board any meaningful solution.
In fact, Dr. Bawumia has refrained from making any pronouncements that relate to the word “economy”, he has adopted the ostrich approach, jettisoning any discussions bothering the current economic situation. In all honesty and sincerity, this is an irony; it raises questions about his credibility, integrity, and sense of responsibility.
It suffice to say that Dr. Bawumia may have deceived President Akufo-Addo and the president must have regretted picking Bawumia as his running mate, based on his perceived knowledge that Bawumia was a foreign exchange (fx) guru that could reverse the Cedi's fx rate depreciation when needed.
Events in 2022 and recent events have proved that, Dr. Bawumia overhyped and vaunted himself and deceived candidate Akufo Addo into making unrealistic economic promises, with 18th century Adam Smith’s Economics Theories that he has no inkling on how to link them to practice, presented fake (oral) CV to Ghanaians and especially, Nana Addo, through the speeches written by some researchers and copied and pasted presentations in his numerous lectures to get the appointment.
Yes, president Akufo-Addo may be glad he chose Dr. Bawumia as his running mate who clearly played a significant role in him (Akufo-Addo) becoming a president, but it is also right to conclude that, President Akufo-Addo may have regretted overtly believing in Dr. Bawumia and building his economic message around him because Dr. Bawumia has contributed in President Akufo-Addo leaving the worse legacy and going down as the worse President since 1992.
The only reason President Akufo-Addo is desperate for Bawumia to become his successor is to insulate him and his appointees from prosecution not because he believed in his competence.
Looking at the current economic situation under this government and the inability of Dr. Bawumia to make any meaningful impact despite previously claiming credit for some marginal stabilization of the cedi, it is apt to conclude that, Dr. Bawumia was not side-lined, he only flattered to deceive.
In view of the above, it will be extremely dangerous for Ghanaians to trust the NPP flagbearer as he makes further numerous promises, the man cannot be trusted to keep to his words and honour his promises. Politics is about being honest to the electorate to preserve your dignity and integrity, but for Dr. Bawumia, it is about winning power at all costs, without recourse to his credibility, entrusting such people with the affairs of this is dangerous.
