Coronavirus: Mahama playing politics, Bawumia’s response apt – KNUST Lecturer

A political Science Lecturer at the KNUST, Dr. Kwesi Amakye Boateng says there is nothing wrong with Vice President Mahamudu Bawumia’s response to former President John Mahama’s recent comments because the former President has been doing politics with the COVID-19 pandemic.

After setting a team of NDC members christened NDC COVID-19 Team parallel to the government’s response team, former President Mahama has also been attacking the government’s COVID-19 response effort in his series of social media engagements.

After a prolonged silence, the government hit back through the Vice President, who reminded the former President of how he mismanaged the Ghanaian economy and also failed to put in place mitigating measures to cushion Ghanaians and businesses who suffered from the debilitating effect of dumsor, which the Vice President labelled self-created during his media encounter.

Following the Vice President’s well-publicised response, leading members of the NDC have been attacking the Vice President, with some attacking his person.

But speaking on Metro TV’s Good Evening Ghana on Tuesday, the political science lecturer said Dr Bawumia was right to have responded due to Mahama’s conduct.

He said the former President has been seeking to profit politically from his social media engagement on government’s handling of the COVID-19 crisis.

“Everything is unfolding in a context. We are in an election year. It is common knowledge that former President Mahama is going to contest the Presidency so definitely when he comes out the way he has been coming out, he is doing politics,” Dr. Amakye said.

“He is engaging the good people of Ghana in a way to endear himself to them. Come December, in the way he is saying, “look the economy that we were told is robust isn’t necessarily so. We go into COVID-19 for 3 months and we run to IMF,” definitely, that is politics.”



“But can you also blame Dr. Bawumia for coming in to defend their record? The significant thing is that he speaks to data. So not until people are able to come out to challenge the facts, the data that he puts out, he is going to visit these issues.

Dr. Amakye said it is unfortunate that people resort to personal attacks when real issues are put on the table for discussions.

“That is not what is needed now. These are ideas and the ideas are about contesting one another and then facts also come out to tell the record of what everyone has done.”

Dr. Amakye said one thing that cannot be overlooked is that former President Mahama has led a government before and he has a record which will always be used in making comparative analysis with the present government.

“There is one significant factor that we can’t run away from that is President Mahama has a record there. He has been in office before and whether people like it or not, his records are there and you can’t help but do comparisons with them.

“When you manage the economy in respect of COVID-19 it is governance. When you manage the economy with respect to energy challenges, it is governance.”

“So over there comparisons can be made. How did one go about making judicious use of the nation’s scarce resource in respect of COVID-19 and in respect of the energy crisis? Yes, there is ground for one to make the comparison”