Former Deputy Power Minister, John Jinapor has challenged Vice President Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia to speak to facts on the performance of the incumbent government and previous Mahama administration.
Former President John Dramani Mahama has, in a series of what he calls digital conversation on COVID-19, criticized the current administration for handling the COVID-19 pandemic poorly and also cast doubts over President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo's ability to resuscitate the economy from the ravages of the pandemic.
Economy In ICU
In one of his conversations, he accused the President of putting the economy on ventilators because the pandemic has exposed how bad his governance is and therefore asked Ghanaians to give him the nod to come back into office and fix the economy.
“Just one month of this Government funding just some sections of the economy and vulnerable persons at home due to the coronavirus, our economy has gone to the ICU and is in tatters now and needs critical health examination,” said former President John Mahama.
Look At The Data Before Speaking
Reacting to the former President's assertion about the performance of President Akufo-Addo and his government, Vice President Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia briefing the press on Monday, May 4, 2020 at the Jubilee House reminded Mr. Mahama about the economic woes he subjected Ghanaians to before the inception of the Akufo-Addo government.
“I will like us to all recall that the NDC was in government for eight years. They may think that we have short memories but we can still remember very clearly that after eight years that they had in government demonstrating their prowess in managing this country and the economy, what did they leave us with?”
“They left us with declining agriculture, declining industry, interest rates were high, inflations was high. In fact if you look at the data in terms of macro economic performance, in any economy since the year 2000, the tenure of the former President was the worst in terms of outcomes in macro economic performance'', he stated adding “that’s the data; it is not me saying it. The banking system was weak, unemployment was rising, our national health insurance was back to cash and carry. We had four years of dumsor with its devastating impact on our economy. And notwithstanding that, electricity prices were being increased by an average of 45% between 2010 and 2015. Our public finances were in a precarious state of course, that resulted in us having to go to the IMF for a bailout and policy credibility. Prices were being increased and there was a freeze on public sector recruitment. Cuts in allowances for lecturers, abolishing of nursing and teacher training allowances and even for teachers who had worked for two, three years, they were being paid for just three months of allowance. Common chalk was even a problem in our schools''.
Dr. Bawumia stressed that the rants by former President Mahama will not derail President Akufo-Addo from the right course.
“This time in the life of our country is not the time for politics. We are facing a global pandemic and the focus of the President as we have all seen, has been leading and making sure the right things are done to protect the lives of Ghanaians. This has been the focus of the President and generally, the focus of the government.''
But speaking to the Vice-President's rebuttal by comparing the track record of the both administrations, the former Deputy Minister for Power noted that the major crisis that the erstwhile Mahama regime was saddled with was power cuts, but due to the leadership of Ex-President John Dramani Mahama, the crisis was resolved before President Nana Akufo-Addo came to power.
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