By Abdul Razak Bawa
I remember with nostalgia those interesting days when Dr Mahamudu Bawumia, then in opposition used to organize public lectures. To be exact, the period was between 2014 to 2016.
The atmosphere at the venues were always charged, Ghanaians who listened through the radio or watched on television or via social media, did that with rapt attention, with a lot to take home.
Whatever he used to say back in the days, was the true reflection of the feeling of Ghanaians. He nailed it, as they say. He became the voice we all wanted to hear, a man who understands the pulse of the nation and was always spot on.
Finally, Ghanaians thought, we have the economic messiah, who was going to take us to the Promised Land.
Power has a way of exposing people. You can talk and say all the things you think is wrong with a system but when you come to power the reality will humble you but not Dr Bawumia.
It is said that, wash a pig, cloth a pig and it will still be a pig, in other words the Leopard never changes its spots.
Economic theories do not apply when you are in government, especially in a developing country like ours, where we depend on both our multi-lateral and bilateral partners to meet our budgetary allocations.
The laws of demand and supply do not make sense here, because you import virtually everything you consume.
As fate would have it, it came to pass that Ghanaians who were convinced that, the New Patriotic Party (NPP) had the panacea to the problems of the country overwhelmingly endorsed it to take over the reins of the country in 2016.
Many people believe that the emergence of the NPP, will find a lasting solution to Ghana’s woes. But, as it is, people who are not parochial in analyzing issues, could easily conclude that the present administration of President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, is not showing any positive sign in tackling the nation’s challenges .
It is five years now, since Nana Akufo-Addo and Dr Mahamudu Bawumia, were sworn into office and things are getting worse than they were during the administration of John Dramani Mahama.
Since 2017, from the onset of their administration they have blamed for president John Dramani Mahama and the National Democratic Congress (NDC) for the poor economic state of the country.
More than five years later, Akufo-Addo and Dr Bawumia, still continue to hold Mahama responsible for the mess the country is in. Someone needs to tell them, to stop the blame game and swing into action, as posterity will not be kind to them for the direction they are leading the country to.
Time waits for no one. If it takes President Akufo-Addo and Dr Bawumia more than five years to complain, how long will it take them to begin to address the numerous challenges facing the country?
Is their body language and utterances not telling Ghanaians that ‘A man can fail many times, but he isn’t a failure until he begins to blame someone else?”
At a lecture organized on Thursday by the Tertiary Students Confederacy (TESCON) of the ruling New Patriotic Party (NPP) at the Pentecost Convention Centre at Gomoa Fete in the Central Region, Vice President, Dr Mahamudu Bawumia, who had the opportunity to sympathise and empathize with Ghanaians for the untold hardship brought about the incompetent and clueless government, decided to go on a frolic of his own, as though he was an opposition leader.
They were a lot of blame to go around, except all was targeted at former president Mahama. Bawumia engaged in cherry picking. He knew the truth, he could have spoken the truth but chose to ignore it.
According him the best times in the history of this country, was the times his party was or had been in power. Ghanaians do not care about who has done what and who didn’t do what, what they care about is how much goods and services cost and things have never been difficult for them, like now when he (Bawumia) and Akufo-Addo are in government.
All the definitions, reasons and data he provided at the lecture is a contradiction of what the NPP told us, that it would lead the way to our redemption. Yeti sika su, na su yebre, to wit we are sitting on money, yet suffering.
Yes, you don’t need a witchdoctor to understand that the change promised by the NPP means overturning our social conditions. Our people are hungry, forex is unstable, businesses are collapsing, and instead of changing their conditions, Dr Bawumia is shamelessly telling us that we should blame not only Covid and Russians invasion of Ukraine, by someone who handed power to them more than five years ago.
What the hungry citizens need isn’t blame game, what they need is a favourable socio-economy to stay alive and thrive in.
Dr Bawumia’s explanations could be likened to the naggings of a disgruntled, disaffected, love – starved house wife who expects to be petted or massaged to assuage her anxieties.
Ghanaians are only clamouring for a more equitable participation in the Ghana project. That is why they keep reminding the leaders of their situation, which keeps getting worse by the day. They are not demanding for anything that is not theirs by right. They are not demanding for a special treatment over and above what is reasonably accruable to them as citizens of the country.
The Bawumia is becoming a liability and is being associated with one thing and that is ‘lies’. What we have been hearing from him is a political propaganda that cannot stand the test of time.
Bawumia is after all Bawumia; his antecedents will continue to speak.
Email: razakbawa@gmail.com
