Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia cannot fix Ghana’s decimated economy, even if given 99 years in office

In 2016, President Nana Akufo Addo, then flagbearer of the NPP, proudly declared that he chose Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia as his running mate solely because he thought that Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia was an Economics Guru, an Economics Messiah who would arrest the Ghana Cedi from depreciating against the US Dollar and other major foreign currencies in the foreign exchange (fx) markets.

For that reason, the President appointed Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia as the head of his Economic Management Team (EMT). The President’s high expectation was that Dr. Bawumia’s management of the economy would bring about a very strong Ghana Cedi in the foreign exchange markets, lower inflation, lower interest rates, higher gross domestic product growth, lower national debt, higher public financial solvency, higher foreign reserves stock, a never-return to the IMF, balance of payments surpluses, favorable terms of trade, etc.

Unfortunately, Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia disappointed President Nana Akufo Addo big time. Vice President Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia failed very miserably; his performance has been anything but underwhelming and a show of gross incompetence during the last seven and a half years. He has overseen a total economic disaster, a gross failure, and a huge disappointment to Nana Addo, the NPP party members and their supporters, and all Ghanaians.

Before President John Agyekum Kufuor and the NPP government handed over power to President Atta Mills and the NDC government on January 7, 2009, the FX rate was at US$ 1.00=GHS1.7211. The Ghana Cedi depreciated by GHS 0.7859, resulting in an 84% depreciation rate in eighteen months (or a 56% average depreciation rate per year). That was a Hyper-Depreciation rate. With GHS1.00, one could get US$0.58 (58 US dollars).

During President Atta Mills-John Mahama’s NDC government, from January 7, 2009, to January 7, 2017, the Ghana Cedi fx rate moved from US$1.00 (GHS.1.72) to US$100 (GHS.4.26); hence, it depreciated by GHS2.54, thus 148% (18% average depreciation rate per year). With GHS1.00, you could get US$0.23 (23 US dollars).

During the NPP government, with Vice President Bawumia as Head of the EMT, from January 7, 2017, to June 29, 2024, the Ghana Cedi has suffered a harrowingly unprecedented depreciation, from US$1.00=GHS4.26 to US$1.00=GHS15.35, thus

GHS11,09 depreciation. That is, 260%, thus 34% average depreciation rate per year. With the same GHS1.00, you can get US$0.07 (7 US dollars only).

From January 2, 2023, to June 28, 2024, the US Dollar to Ghana Cedi fx rate suffered a hyper-depreciation, from US$1.00 = GHS 9.9094 to US$1.00 = GHS 15.2580. It means that the Ghana Cedi lost GHS5.349 in value. That is a 54% hyper-depreciation rate.

Hence, contrary to President Nana Addo’s belief that Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia was a competent economist, the latter has proven to be the exact opposite: an incompetent, self-overhyped development economist (not a financial or monetary economist) who has no clue as to how to arrest the US dollar to stop it from damaging the Ghana Cedi’s value, which continues to suffer a hyper-depreciation trend.

Vice President Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia, a development economist, has no intellectual wherewithal to manage foreign exchange rate regimes. He cannot arrest the US dollar from destroying the Ghana cedi, even if he is given ninety-nine (99) years in office.

Further, in contrast to Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia being an economic Messiah who was expected to improve Ghana’s economy as Head of the EMT, this rather led to the decimation of Ghana’s economy, causing economic chaos and widespread abject poverty everywhere in the country and in every sector of the economy, leading to:

Hyper-depreciation, hyper-inflation, hyper-interest rate, highest foreign debt stock, highest debt-to-GDP ratio, highest poverty rate, highest unemployment rate, highest cost of living, highest quantity of taxes, highest tax burden, highest business fold-ups, highest budget deficits, highest Bank of Ghana losses, worst international credit rating ever, D, highest IMF loan, and many more.

Ghanaians should correct the mistake they made in 2020; they should dump the grossly incompetent Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia and the NPP; and they should vote for John Dramani Mahama and the NDC to rescue Ghana’s economy and redeem Ghanaians from the undeserved suffering they have been going through for the past seven and a half years under the NPP.