Dr. Bawumia’s Presentation: Any Challenger?

“Political Judgment is the ability to hear the distant hoofbeat of the horses of history. Politics is the art of the possible, the attainable – the art of the next best” – Otto Von Bismarck

After listening to Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia during his thought-provoking presentation on the state of the economy, I couldn't help but to stand up and clap unceasingly for him when he ended his presentation. You screw with this economic whiz-kid at your own peril. Ex-President John Mahama was the first to throw down the gauntlet and Dr. Bawumia picked it up and did justice to it.

So what next? Mr. Mahama was the chairman of the Economic Management team when he was the Vice President during the Atta Mills era. He is not an economist but the NDC has very good economists in their camp. I throw a challenge to Mr. Mahama to assemble his economists to come out with a presentation which is contrary to what Dr. Bawumia presented.

It is a challenge which he must not run away from. Ghanaians are waiting for Mr. Mahama and his team to expose Dr. Bawumia if they can. Mr. Fiifi Kwetey was making ugly noises on Joy News Pulse programme before Dr. Bawumia's presentation.

If he is the economist that he boasts of, he should come out with facts and figures to debunk what Dr. Bawumia presented. There is no time for bragging and infantile provocation of confrontation. Mr. Mahama and his team of noise makers should put up or shut up for the government to steer the ship of state ashore.

Bawumia's presentation is like the way an eagle deals with a snake. When an eagle sees a snake on the ground, it will fly up and descend to grab the snake, with one of its claws grabbing the head and the other grabbing the tail of the snake. It will then fly back and perch on the tree and tear the snake into two with its sharp beak before devouring it. With the mission accomplished, the eagle will proudly roam about in the firmament looking for another opportunity to strike.

This is exactly what Dr. Bawumia did to the snake called John Dramani Mahama who never loses an opportunity to ridicule the tested economist simply because Dr. Bawumia once called him an incompetent president.

An eagle likes challenges. If the eagle sees a storm gathering with wind and thunder, it will fly up to meet the storm. The eagle is not like the chicken which will shiver and run away to hide anytime the storm gathers. If Mahama fails to challenge Dr. Bawumia, I will add CHICKEN to his name. Imagine ex-president Chicken Mahama!

I was happy Dr. Bawumia was addressing the TESCON. I am sure copies of the speech will be duplicated and distributed to the TESCON. It should also be distributed to all the constituencies for the communicators to use to campaign. The truth is that few party supporters know what Dr. Bawumia said. This speech should be a campaign tool for the party communicators to use to explain things better in order to dilute the poison of misinformation of the NDC.

You see, the government has done so many good things which the public is not aware. The One District One Factory is going on, but only those who live in the districts that a factory is built are aware. Dams are constructed in villages in the Northern regions but NDC apparatchiks sit in Accra and poison the minds of people that nothing is being done.

School blocks, dormitories and other facilities are being built in Senior High Schools to solve the issue of accommodation and Double Track, but party communicators are saying nothing about it. The communication wing of the party should spend money to buy airtime on TV stations to showcase these projects and stop their unnecessary press conferences which do not sink in.

For the five years that the NPP government has been in power, the government has built about seven flyovers and interchanges, but since they are not located in some regions, the NDC is out there saying they built them. The Obetsebi Lamptey Interchange, the Tema Interchange, the Nungua Interchange, the Tamale Interchange, the Takoradi PTC Roundabout Interchange, the Pokuase Interchange, etc are all the handiwork of the NPP government, but the story is not being told by party communicators.

When the NDC built the Circle Interchange, they made sure huge billboards depicting the project were erected in almost all the regions in Ghana. When it was being commissioned, comedians and other dignitaries were brought from Nigeria and other countries to grace the occasion amidst drumming and dancing. I did not blame them because the Bible says you don't light up a lantern and hide it under a bed.

The NDC has established some radio and TV stations to spew out lies and misinform the populace. It is their agenda, and it seems to be working well for them. They spend huge sums of money to buy some half-baked journalists who sit on radio and TV stations to mess around.

What is the NPP doing in this respect? As a government in power, what keeps the NPP from setting up similar radio and TV stations to set records straight? Anyone who listened to Dr. Bawumia's presentation will wish it is translated into local languages so that the common man on the street will also understand and refuse to follow the lies of the NDC. The truth is that the NPP is losing the propaganda war. Very sad indeed.

The NPP is underrating the power of the NDC propaganda machine. When the founder of the NDC, the late JJ Rawlings usurped power, he looked up to the communist countries to propagate his revolution. He sent young men and women to countries like Cuba, Bulgaria, Libya, Russia, etc to learn the art of propaganda. These are the people who are lying through their teeth to hoodwink Ghanaians. Their lust for political power is insatiable. If they tell you to look up, you better look down else you will be bitten by a snake.

What is worrisome is that if we allow them to lie their way to power, they will undo the good works of the NPP. The Free SHS will be their first target. And Mr. Mahama has already served notice.

The Surgeon General of the United States of America has warned that cigarette smoking is dangerous to your health. He did not warn that cigar smoking is dangerous to your health. That is why I continue to do my own thing. Here I go with a stick of Cohiba.

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From Eric Bawah