Dr. BAWUMIA WAS AN IMF STUDENT INTERN

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It is very refreshing to hear that Dr. MAHAMADU BAWUMIA, the newly selected NPP presidential running-mate deplores the politics of insults amd mudslinging in the country.It is also apopos for him to condemn politics of lies and vile propaganda because he is young and fresh politically. He must however be bold enough to call his party to order anytime it engages in such political vices.

Since his selection, the pro-NPP media outlets have left no stone unturned in their effort to "sell" the candidate.In so-doing, they have engaged in the very political vices that Dr. Bawumia is condemning. Both The Daily Guide and The Statesman have given the wrong impression that Dr. Bawumia is the deputy Governor of the Bank of Ghana. They should rather describe him as a deputy governor but not the deputy governor!

The fact is he is one of two deputies. Mr. Van Lare Dosoo, the other one, is the first deputy! What these media outlets fail to divulge is that both of these gentlemen were recruited during the NDC administration and it clearly demonstrates the non-partisan approach that party used to identify talent for the country unlike the purely partisan modus operandus of the NPP.

In "selling" Dr. Bawumia, the NPP spin doctors have listed among the candidate's international experience, his work with THE INTERNATIONAL MONETARY FUND (IMF). The truth is that Dr. Bawumia engaged in a two-month student internship with the IMF in 1994 but was never a full time employee.

The Daily Guide in a piece titled "NDC Eyes Bawumia", (August 21, 2008) cautioned its supporters that the NDC is out to get Dr. Bawumia because the party is "afraid" of him. No one is afraid of any candidate. What we want is the truth as Dr. Bawumia himself has proclaimed.There are some of us who saw and interacted with him during his short internship at the Fund. What he did during the two-month internship could not be described in the way the spindoctors are putting it. There are several politicians who have returned home to embellish their meagre accomplishments or lie outright about themselves whilst outside the shores of Ghana. This must stop.

I therefore take this opportunity to advise Dr. Bawumia to seize the opportunity to correct any false impression created about him. Otherwise the political virtues he professes would sound too hypocritical. Already one William Antwi, Richard Denteh, and the Enquirer newspaper have posed some challenges to him which he needs to explain. If he fails to do so, his own credibility will be in doubt. The choice is his!