Bawumia’s excuses for going to IMF are untenable, comical and ridiculous - Mahama

Former President John Dramani Mahama has said the reasons given by Dr Mahamudu Bawumia for the government’s decision to seek support from the IMF are untenable excuses.

In a public lecture at Accra Business School on Thursday, July 14, 2022, Vice President Dr Mahamudu Bawumia outlined four major reasons for the government’s move to turn to the IMF for a bailout.

He cited the banking sector cleanup, energy sector excess capacity payments, Covid-19 and the Russia-Ukraine war as the key drivers for the move to IMF.

The vice president argued that two of the factors, namely the banking sector cleaning and the excess capacity charges, were a result of the policies of the Mahama administration.

Addressing members of the minority caucus of parliament in the Volta region after a training workshop, the 2020 flag bearer of the National Democratic Congress described the lecture by Dr Bawumia as ridiculous and comical.

According to Mr Mahama, the vice president would have resigned or been dismissed in a government where honour and responsibility are respected.

He said, “The economic hardships persist and is set to remain for an extended period. Amid this gloomy outlook, those responsible for the mess refuse to exhibit contrition and sobriety. One of the key architects of the failed policies and mismanagement that have led to our economic downfall and suffering found it necessary a couple of days ago to put up a public display that verged on the ridiculous and comical. In a government where honour and responsibility are respected, the Chair of the Economic Management Team that has thrust us into this crisis would have stepped down or dismissed.”

The former president expressed reservations over the blame heaped on his administration for the current economic situation after six years of governance by the Akufo-Addo/Bawumia administration.

“In fact, the very idea that this government has requested for an IMF programme would have been sufficient reason for him to go in view of all the unenlightened propaganda he dabbled in against our IMF programme of 2015. Rather, he has chosen to show a gaping deficit in leadership attributes by making untenable excuses and seeking to shift blame onto the government that left power almost six years ago and which had no role to play in the poor policy choices that have delivered these disastrous outcomes.”

Figures and data the former president noted do not support claims by the vice president that policies of the previous administration contributed to the current economic woes of the country.

He said, “I would stress that the problems the banks and financial institutions had could have been resolved with a third of that amount, and we would have recovered same in good time if this government was minded doing the right thing. The Akufo-Addo and Bawumia government took the unwise decision to collapse those financial institutions and is liable for any outcome. The claims about excess capacity payment are no truer than the other three excuses. The monies paid to the IPPs, which is deceptively couched as payment for “excess capacity”, are, in fact, subsidies paid for power that has been generated and supplied to consumers. We had done sufficient work before our exit in 2016 to address the financial bottlenecks in the energy sector.”