Bawumia: Behind every inefficient president, there is a vice president

When people are under one government for a long time and become fed up, especially, when they feel disappointed, facing an unemployment crisis, corruption scandals, and a biting economy at the same time, the frustrated people will call for a change. That is what exactly happened in John Mahama’s time.

The NPP government struggling to take over Ghana used the grievances of the disappointed Ghanaians as an opportunity and used it against the NDC government. Therefore, in September 2015, Mahamudu Bawumia, the vice-presidential candidate, addressing NPP activists at Nkawkaw in the Eastern Region, declared “Corruption takes over NDC.”

At Nkawkaw, Bawumia said, “Ghana would have been ten times better under Nana Akufo Addo, government, taking into consideration the number of resources available in the country, yet the Mahama administration has mismanaged everything.

He further convinced the people that taxes collected by the NDC government for the past seven years are five times the total tax revenue the National Patriotic Party received in eight years under President Kufuor.

The sick and tired Ghanaians voted out John Dramani Mahama and the National Democratic Congress lost the 2016 elections, bringing in Akufo Addo as the new president. Ghanaians wholeheartedly received Nana Akufo-Addo, who promised to fight against corruption never before.

The new Ghanaian leader and the vice-president embarked on certain hate politics to discredit John Dramani Mahama, while a section of the Ghanaian community embraced it, piling up insults on the ex-president. Till now, Mahama is under a heavy yoke of insults, yet this humble man, even though not perfect, has done incredibly better than the Akufo-Addo.

Leading the highest number of ministers in Ghana’s political history, in the midst of the banking, economic, and unemployment crisis, Akufo-Addo announced to Ghanaians his Cathedral project.

The whole world was shocked, in fact, that was a signal of Ghana's preparation to be on stormy waters with this new administration, even though a few Ghanaians protested, while others actually didn’t really care much about that because they hate John Mahama.

Nana Akufo-Addo, indeed pulled down buildings occupied by some judges to make space for the Cathedral project. In a development that has never been witnessed in any part of the world, the Akufo Addo government neglected all the uncompleted projects, including schools and hospitals left by the NDC government.

Yet, behind Akufo-Addo is vice-president Bawumia, who is said to be an economist, yet can’t give the right decision or visualize the doom Ghana was heading. In a hasty manner, without adequate preparation, they implemented a free-education program.

However, along the line, the NPP government started experiencing the most difficult crisis in both the educational and health sectors. Both Bawumia and the president's pride got more of them than the vain promises they gave. In a matter of time, a series of corruptible scandals have hit the Akufo Addo administration.

Many Ghanaians were shocked at the rate of corruption scandals coming in daily against Akudo Addo. Surprisingly, there were no many criticisms against Nana Akufo Addo like John Mahama, revealing hypocrisy and hate are strongly part of Ghanaian politics.

Bawumia in June 2019, from his own mouth, said “The administration of Nana Akufo-Addo has, in just two and half years of being in office introduced systems and institutions designed to reduce human interface in service delivery, while significantly increasing the resources available to anti-corruption agencies in an all-out effort to cut out waste and eliminate opportunities for corrupt practices.” – ModernGhana news reference.

I challenged his statement with an article entitled “Bawumia, The Only Solution To Corruption: Let All Ghanaian Politicians Go Wash In The Pool Of Siloam.” Is this writer right that washing in the Pool of Siloam is the only solution to cure corruption in Ghana?

Probably, because the administration of Akufo Addo has been hit by more corruption scandals than the former president, John Mahama administration. Ghana became the third most corrupt country in the world; above all, Ghana is under a heavier debt than what was incurred by the previous government.