It was delivered on Thursday September 8, 2016 (roughly two months ago) but its ghost is still haunting the establishment. Government called it a ‘dishonest lecture’ and perhaps unsubstantiated. Following that I urged the ruling NDC to come out and challenge the man who’d ruffled the feathers of the rulers but nobody up to date after that profound lecture has manned up to take the lead-laced bait.
So he’s back, and they’ve to deal with.
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Old wounds appeared revived and caused wide-eyed in Ghana’s capital city-Accra: The National Theatre the-last-minute-venue for the NPP vice presidential nominee’s public lecture didn’t disappoint its august guests. It lived up to expectation.
It was themed: ““The State of Ghana’s Economy—A foundation of Concrete or Straw?’’
And it mimicked a town-hall-styled debate attended by dignitaries, journalists and diplomats from across Ghana. Since that surreal public discourse on Thursday, I’m yet to observe anyone or group of persons from the other side of the aisle thrust a double-edged sword or a knife into Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia’s ‘toasted bread’.
The profound delivery and repeated applauds that greeted the address emphasised its veracity. There’d however, been a few criticisms from the civil society among them economic Think Tank—IMANI, with regard to the dollar rates. It pointed out that there were inconsistencies in the rates he (DR. Bawumia) used for his analysis.
With a ‘broad brush’ the architect of the lecture meticulously painted the state of the nation’s economy in a way that wowed the crowd. It resonated… amid emotional appeals to register their displeasure as if to say– ‘never again shall we go to sleep this long’.
But what did he (Dr. Bawumia) do differently, that made most Ghanaians act as though it was the first time they learned about the sordid state of the economy or Ghana’s woes?
Sydney Casely -Hayford a member of OccupyGhana crafted it so beautifully: “The dexterity with which the former second deputy governor of the Bank of Ghana uses data and figures to his advantage always gets the governing party flummoxed.”
The question is how long would this well-delivered message stay with the Ghanaian voting public as they head to the general elections in December 7, 2016?
And as this writer points out, generally Ghanaians seem to be suffering from a mundane disease called ‘forgetfulness’ (it isn’t dementia) —which tend to favour politicians very often but to the disadvantage of the citizenry.
It is ironic a voter would forget all the troubles he’s been going through for years. Just drop him a bag of rice, GHc50, cooking oil and sardine. That’s all it takes—problem solved. A major reason why politicians have taken us for granted.
Meanwhile, ‘Dumsor’ is undying, unemployment still lurks around, inflation bouncing year-in-year-out, public debt ballooning, fiscal deficit peaking, minimum wage thinning, exchange rate fluctuating, GDP per capital tanking and GDP growth relapsing.
Thankfully, the lecture which could be described as Bawumia’s campaign speech kicked off in a different style. This kind of style seldom happens. Very rare to see African leaders debate on issues or engage in political/social discourse without maligning or hurling abusive epithets at each other or one another . It seems to be a norm we’ve charitably embraced.
But the astute economist broke the gremlin during the public lecture and shed more light on the state of Ghana’s economy. All it took was power-point presentation, illustration, facts and figures, imageries and metaphor to wake up many Ghanaians from their slumber. And he kept going on and on—cataloguing, comparing and contrasting.
“Virtually every single economic indicator proves that while the eight years under the NPP 2001 and 2009 were better than these last eight years under the NDC, NDC’s first four years under late president Mills were even far better than these last four years under John Mahama,” he said.
He went on to say that: “Under the eight years of NPP government, from 2001 to 2009, taxes and loans amounted to GHC20 billion. In contrast, taxes, oil revenue and loans alone over under the eight-year
period of 2009-2016 would amount to some GHC 248billion. The Mills-Mahama government would have had in eight years more than 12 times the nominal resources that the NPP had.”
I still maintain, I haven’t read or heard from the ruling party’s side any compelling article(s) that attempted to perforate the facts and figures presented by Dr. Bawumia.
Would that cut be deeper than what the renowned economist showcased?
Is there one?
Mr. Okudzeto Ablakwa, a deputy minister of education has taken Dr. Bawumia on. His criticism bordered on the education sector and the claims by Dr. Bawumia that the NPP established University of Mines and Technology UMaT at Tarkwa in the western region. He described the largest opposition party nominee’s lecture as ‘intellectually dishonest.’
He said: “It was intellectually dishonest for him to claim that it was the NNP that established UMaT which had existed under various forms since 1952.”
The minister also mentioned two polytechnics in the Upper west and east regions: “Bolgatanga and Wa polytechnics were established in 1999 and had enrolled students long before the NPP came to power: His claims that the NPP established both polytechnics are untrue,” Mr. Ablakwa noted.
‘In any case Dr. Bawumia should be telling Ghanaians why they failed in eight years to fulfil their promise of establishing polytechnic in every district as contained on page 29 of the NPP’s 2000 manifesto.”
So let’s assume both parties failed to deliver. Both reneged on the promises they gave and couldn’t go by their own blueprint. However, let’s do some kind of assessment: Assessment not based on the above-mentioned factors either macro or micro economic indicators. Let’s be honest though and ask ourselves this question— which of the two parties (NDC OR NPP) took Ghana into HIPC (heavily indebted poor country)?
Was it NDC OR NPP? It was the NDC, because they mismanaged the economy.
Which party took Ghana out from HIPC? Was it NPP or the NDC? The answer is NPP
How did Ghana’s economy fare at the time? Fairly robust, the country witnessed major influx of foreign investors and there was business and economic boom.
When did Ghana lift its first oil? March 2011.
It earned a whopping $112,271, 187 from 995,259 barrels of crude oil lifted from the Ghana Jubilee Fields at Cape Three Points in the western region, according to official figures.
And under which party’s administration did this windfall happen? The answer is the NDC.
Is the economy better today than it was in the HIPC era, given all the problems that confront the country?
Where is all the oil money?
The proof is truly in the pudding.
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