Author: David Yanney

Kennedy Agyapong, the Member of Parliament (MP) for Assin Central, has received criticism from Mohammed A. Baantima Samba, the Northern Regional Chairman of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), for his attack on Vice President Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia.
Because of the vice president’s significance to the NPP, according to Baantima Samba, the MP does not deserve to criticise him.

He claimed that Dr. Bawumia was instrumental in the NPP’s triumph in the 2016 and 2020 presidential elections and deserves recognition for his hard effort.
“I strongly condemn his unprovoked attacks on the vice president whose efforts and sacrifices contributed hugely to returning the NPP twice into office, with its attendant benefits to Kennedy, myself and many party people across the country.

“If his likes would not honour the vice president for his work for our party, they should not be attacking him unprovoked,” he said.

“For a man seeking to lead a noble party like the NPP, Kennedy’s conduct and pronouncements must mirror what the NPP is noted for: respect, decorum, dignity, and civility in speech,” he added.
The Assin Central MP criticized Dr. Bawumia for the nation’s economic difficulty, especially the depreciation of the Ghana cedi, which he claimed cost him a lot of money.
The vice president, he said, shouldn’t be the one leading the NPP into the 2024 elections due to the economy’s dismal performance and his prior utterances.

“When your fundamentals are weak, the exchange rate will expose you. When you were making that statement, the exchange rate was GH¢4.20p. On Friday, it was GH¢15.00 to a dollar.

“What message do you want to give to Ghanaians again? Let me tell you; I’m telling you this straight; I’m saying all these things because of [something]…from March this year to August this year, through the exchange rate, I lost $12 million,” Kennedy Agyapong said in a viral audio.
He also threatened to shut down the presidential campaign of the vice president if he is not treated fairly in the flagbearer race of the NPP.

By: Chief Obosu Mohammed
LL.M MA ACIarb LL.B DPA

[email protected]
16/09/2022

The Kufuor Administration’s enormous achievement from 2001 to 2008 cannot be underscored without including Dr Mahamudu Bawumia, who, along with others, made an important contribution. It is not surprising, however, that President Kufuor, a man endowed with wisdom and careful with his words, does not mince words and continues to trumpet Dr Bawumia’s credentials at every chance.

Given the stakes, a party like the NPP and other major political parties are unlikely to compromise their chances by nominating a stranger as their running mate. Even though Dr Bawumia was not a politician, he was no stranger to the then-NPP government. He was a backroom pillar of President Kufuor’s administration, working closely with Yaw Osarfo Marfo, Kwadwo Baah Wiredu of blessed memory, Paul Acquah, Anthony Akoto Osei, and a slew of other dignitaries in government and the party at the time.

Dr Bawumia’s demonstrable technical expertise led to his rapid and remarkable climb from Economist to Snr Economist, Head of Department, Special Assistant to the Governor, and eventually Deputy Governor before being nominated as Nana Akufo Addo’s Running Mate (as he then was).

His indelible footprints are visible in many of President Kufuor’s administration’s triumphs, particularly in finance, banking, and the economy. Dr Bawumia, for example, headed the Bank of Ghana team and was also a member of the Government of Ghana team that negotiated the HIPC assistance project in 2001. The HIPC initiative resulted in the cancellation of nearly $4 billion in debt, which was stifling the government and limiting national growth and progress at the time. The HIPC initiative has resulted in considerable rural development across the country in the fields of education, health, and infrastructure, which are still useful to both rural and urban Ghana. Despite its controversy at the time, the HIPC project offered a fiscal space that enabled President Kufuor to accomplish his transformational agenda.

Dr Bawumia oversaw the soundness of the country’s banking system as a Deputy Governor in charge of financial stability. During that period, Ghana had an influx of several universal banks across the country. Indeed, because of the banking sector’s robustness at the time, many banks were pursuing clients and potential clients with credit facilities.

Ghana was able to raise $750 in the international Eurobond issue for the first time in 2007. Apart from the fact that Ghana’s Eurobond was four times oversubscribed, Ghana was the first country in Sub-Saharan Africa to accomplish that remarkable milestone. More pleasing was the fact that Dr Bawumia, as Chairman of the Capital Markets Committee, oversaw the strategy used to raise this critical finance for the country in the international market.

Such is the characteristic of a brilliant and competent Dr Bawumia, who has consistently worked hard to guarantee that the NPP attains a higher height in its endeavours, whether in government or opposition.