NDC National Communications Officer, Sammy Gyamfi
The National Communications Officer of the largest opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC), Sammy Gyamfi, has expressed doubts about the competence of Vice President Dr Mahamudu Bawumia as the New Patriotic Party's (NPP) presidential candidate for the upcoming December 7, 2024, elections.
Sammy Gyamfi opined that Dr Bawumia's leadership style has led to the nation's economic turmoil.
In an interview on 'Face to Face' on Citi TV with Umaru Sanda Amadu, monitored by Peacefmonline.com, Sammy Gyamfi described the Vice President as "incompetent and corrupt," holding him and President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo liable for the hardships faced by Ghanaians.
According to the National Communications Officer, Dr. Bawumia cannot dissociate himself from the economic quagmire, considering his pivotal role in the administration.
Sammy Gyamfi criticised Dr Bawumia's unfulfilled promises and questioned his economic strategies, giving the significant depreciation of the Ghanaian cedi.
He said, "Mates [conductors] are relevant and important. You can be a good driver, but with a bad mate, you will fail. This mate, Dr Bawumia, is a very incompetent, corrupt, and clueless mate. And that is why he has failed in the primary responsibility President Akufo-Addo entrusted to him, which is the management of the economy."
"The dollar then was GH5, is now GHC13.50 pesewas. To the importer, what is the use of Bawumia? Where are the strong economic fundamentals? Where are the concrete roads he promised? Where are the harbours he promised the people of Cape Coast?
He further added, "The reason why Dr Bawumia can talk like this is because he has no respect for the truth. And he has no respect for the good people of this country. Either than that, he should be displaying remorse for the crime he and his boss [President Akufo-Addo] or the entire NPP have committed against the people of Ghana."
"There's no sector of this country today; there's no metrics today, which is better today than it was in 2016 when we handed over power to them."
Sammy Gyamfi further condemned the government's performance, highlighting Ghana's downgrade to a CC credit rating and the increase in inflation and poverty levels under their governance.
He contrasted this with Mahama's B-rating and called out the current leadership for their inability to maintain economic stability.
He said, "Let's start with the economy. What was the rate of inflation in December 2016? 15.4%—what is the rate of inflation today? About 23%, after it rose to 54%. Plunging over 800,000 Ghanaians into poverty because the government was so reckless to have impressed on the central bank to print for it GHC45 billion in a single year, 2020."
"Inflation is far worse today than it was under President Mahama [former]. Under Mahama, our economy was rated B-. Today, all the sovereign credit rating agencies—Moody's, Fitch—rate our economy as junk CC, and in some cases, RD, and so on. That is why we have been logged out of the capital market. Under Dr Bawumia's leadership, our economy was discredited; you can compare," he stressed.
