The Life Of A Man Favoured By Destiny: The Bawumia Story

Introduction

“Development does not come by itself. Development comes when you have good leaders who are trustworthy and leaders who are competent and committed to a cause. I believe that it is God who directed Nana Akufo-Addo to choose Dr. Bawumia as his running mate. I met Dr. Bawumia many years ago, when he was far younger than now. I consider Bawumia as my son. “When I saw Bawumia, he was very young, but I immediately realized that he was extremely brilliant. God has given him a great mind and thanks to God Almighty too, Bawumia, aside being knowledgeable, is endowed with wisdom.

“When I was the President, we went to a conference in London. I went with the Governor of the Bank of Ghana and Ministers of Finance to meet officials from various institutions and countries. “While the conference was ongoing, I noticed that a certain young man had taken his position behind the microphones.

“I was surprised and wondered who he was and what he was going to say but as he began talking, every point he made was full of knowledge and wisdom and I could see the multinationals continuously nodding in agreement to the points he was making. I was remarkably surprised. After the meeting, I called him aside and asked him what his name was; he told me he was Bawumia. I urged him on to continue on the path he was, as it would take him far. He was not even 40 then.” These are the remarks of H. E. former President J. A. Kufuor about the “Generational Thinker”, Alhaji Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia. Indeed, this confirms the proverbial saying that “a chick that will grow into a cock can be spotted the very day it was hatched”.

Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia is certainly a gift to his generation. Reliving the words of President Kufuor summaries the potential of a man from a lineage of compatriots who have served their Party and Ghana in various sectors, laying the building blocks for tomorrow’s stable growth and development. He was born ready to serve under the most difficult times of the world economy including leading Ghana’s Economic Management team to chart new paths never experienced under the leadership of any Vice President (Head of Economic Management Team) under the 4th Republic.

The Man in the Arena

On the 7^th of October 1963, a son was gifted to the Nation of Ghana through the family of Alhaji Mumuni Bawumia and Hajia Mariama Bawumia, both of blessed memory. His Father, was a teacher, lawyer and politician; a Mamprugu Royal and Chief of the Kpariga Traditional area. He was a founding member of the Northern Peoples’ Party alongside Chief S. D. Dombo, Chief Abeifa Karbo, Yakubu Tali, the Tolon Naa, and J. A. Braimah, Kabachewura. He served as Chairman of the Council of State from 1992 to 2000.

As our elders say, a fruit does not fall far from its tree. Dr. Bawumia has exhibited and continues to exhibit many traits of his father, having first lectured on Monetary Economics and International Finance at the Emile Woolf College of Accountancy in London, England. He also served as an Assistant Professor of Economics in the Hankamer School of Business at Baylor University in Waco, Texas, USA, where he received the Young Researcher Award in 1998 and was listed in “Who is Who Among America’s Teachers’ in 1999, a teaching trait taken and harnessed on the hills of his father. In attaining a profession to serve unlike his father who was a lawyer, his professional service was rendered not to only individuals or groups but to shape the economic fortunes of countries and their citizens based on works as an economist at the Research Department of the International Monetary Fund in Washington, DC, USA. With much experience gained over the years, Dr. Bawumia returned to Ghana in the year 2000 to offer his experience and knowledge to the development of Ghana. He served with the Bank of Ghana in the dispatch of the regulator’s role in ensuring a stable financial system, facilitating wealth creation, economic growth and development. He rose through the ranks; first as a Senior Economist, then to Head of Department, Special Assistant to the Governor of the Bank and was later appointed as Deputy Governor of the Bank of Ghana in June 2006.

Hither to working with the Bank of Ghana, Dr. Bawumia worked with several academic, government and non-governmental institutions. He served as a Consultant to the Economic Commission of Africa in 2009. He also served as visiting Scholar to the University of British Columbia Liu Centre for Global Studies and UBC Fisheries Centre. He became a Fellow of the International Growth Centre (IGC), a research institute jointly operated by London School of Economics and Political Science and Oxford University. He was advisor to the Central Bank of Sierra Leone on the redesigning of the organizational structure of the Bank and its monetary policy framework and appointed Resident Representative of the African Development Bank for Zimbabwe by the African Development Bank in 2010.

These technocratic heroics and contributions to academia particularly in the field of Economic Development couch a name for Dr. Bawumia as “The Walewale Adam Smith (The Economic Messiah)” which is directly linked to the roots and fruits he bears as a globally recognized Economist akin to the Father of Economics, Adam Smith. Having had his basic and secondary school education in Tamale, thus Sakasaka Primary school and Tamale Secondary School, he pursued Banking and obtained a Diploma from the Chartered Institute of Bankers in the United Kingdom. He furthered his undergraduate studies at Buckingham University where he graduated with First Class Honours in Economics in 1987. Dr. Bawumia continued his pursuit to attain higher academic excellence with a master’s degree in Economics at Lincoln College, Oxford and obtained a PhD in Economics at the Simon Fraser University, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada in 1995.

Indeed, Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia is the man in the Arena! And his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who have never known neither victory nor defeat.

“The Walewale Adam Smith (The Economic Messiah)”

Dr. Bawumia has been an Economist of Choice and a household name when it comes to economic matters in Ghana and beyond: that even his dreaded enemies in the political space cannot hide the admiration for him. In 2014, when Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia as visiting professor to the Central University made an impeccable analysis of the depreciation of the Ghana cedi and proved with empirical figures and data, NDC most celebrated Economist and Ghana’s longest serving finance minister, Prof. Kwesi Botchwey agreed with his analysis to the displeasure of his party. He said, “I offer no rebuttals to his lecture. I do agree with much of what he said”. Again, Dr. Tony Aidoo, a former Head of the Policy Evaluation and Oversight Unit of the Office of the President from 2009 to 2013 and a former diplomat also said in 2017 that NDC communication’s team must have people with “historical recall” and “administrative memory” to counter Dr Bawumia’s in the next elections”. “What I missed was the ability of the NDC communication team to bring out the facts so as to challenge the comparative analysis that Dr Bawumia was making. Dr Bawumia was the Achilles’ heel of the NDC. Not only for the 2016 elections but he started way back in 2012”.

Since he took over as Vice President and Chairman of the Economic Management Team (EMT), Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia has performed creditably well. Ghana’s economy was on track prior to COVID-19 and Russia-Ukraine war. In April 2019, government had successfully completed a four-year IMF programme entered into by the previous National Democratic Congress (NDC) in 2015. Our GDP was growing at an average of 7% between 2017 and 2019. In addition, an annual average real Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth of 7% was achieved between 2017 and 2019 from 3.4% in 2016. Prior to Covid-19 pandemic, government maintained a fiscal deficit below 5% of GDP for three consecutive years. The Akufo-Addo government with Dr. Bawumia as Head of EMT had also maintained a positive primary balance for three consecutive years which put public debt on a sustainable path. Before COVID-19 pandemic, lending rates were lowered by over 10 percentage points. Inflation was reduced from 15.4% in December, 2016 to 7.6% in 2019 preserving the integrity of the local industry. By February 2020, gross international reserves improved reaching $8.6 billion or about 4 months of import cover.

When he came into the political space in 2008, he was considered an inexperienced politician but he has grown in the role and has become a thorn in the flesh of the opposition NDC during and after their reign. With what became known as ‘Bawunomics’, he constantly demonstrated with in-depth research and data as he organized town hall meetings and lectures to disprove and proffer alternatives whiles in opposition. In fact, some political analysts suggest that, then vice presidential candidate Bawumia ‘single handedly’ won the 2016 election for the NPP and has even demonstrated more leadership as head of the Economic Management Team. The scripture in Psalms 78:72 summarizes his leadership qualities “So he shepherded them according to the integrity of his heart, and guided them with his skillful hands.”

The Kufour Era

The Kuffour/Aliu Mahama electoral victory in 2000 brought back many young and brilliant minds including Dr. Bawumia who was part of the Bank of Ghana team negotiating for debt relief through the HIPC initiative. Ghana received $3.7 Billion in debt services relief upon the successful implementation of the HIPC program in 2007, setting Ghana on a path of economic liberation in Africa.

Further to his eight-years, stay with the Bank of Ghana Dr. Bawumia headed the Monetary Policy and Financial Stability Department where he jointly designed and implemented the inflation-targeting framework that continues to guide monetary policy and the workings of the Monetary Policy Committee at the Bank of Ghana. The inflation-targeting framework contributed to a significant reduction in inflation from over 40% in 2000 to 10.2% by 2007 (i.e., before the oil price shock of 2007/2008) while maintaining relative exchange rate stability.

In addition to his contributions to the Bank of Ghana were the design and implementation of policies in abolishing the secondary reserve requirements and the opening up of the banking sector. The results were a major increase in the availability of credit to the private sector from 12.5% of GDP in 2001 to 28.5% of GDP by 2008. Notably, he was involved in the design and implementation of the e-zwich common platform for all banks, savings and loans companies and rural banks, offering interoperability across different financial institutions.

Dr. Bawumia served as a member of the Government Technical Team on the Deregulation of Ghana’s Petroleum Sector. As Chairman of the Capital Markets Committee, his committee was responsible for the debut of $750 million, which was four times oversubscribed. He also played a key role in the successful redenomination of the cedi. Through this process, the cedi was considerably strengthened.

During his stay at the Bank of Ghana, the government negotiated the Millennium Challenge Compact with the US Government resulting in about $ 547 million for poverty reduction through investments in agriculture, transportation and rural infrastructure which included projects like the construction of N1 Highway, reduction in bottlenecks in accessing the International Airport and the Port of Tema and support expansions of Ghana in export-directed horticulture beyond then production levels.

It also led to improvements of Trunk Roads, facilitation of growth of agriculture and access to social services by rehabilitating or constructing up to 75.21 kilometres of trunk roads in the Afram Basin region.

Improvements of Lake Volta Ferry Services: Facilitate the growth of agriculture in the Afram Basin region by improving the ferry service of Volta Lake Transport Company that connects Adawso on the southern shore to Ekye Amanfrom on the northern shore.

Furthermore, strengthening of Rural Financial Services was achieved. Automation and interconnection of 121 rural banks and community owned banks. Additional improvements in the national payments systems that widened the scope of financial inclusion within the local economy.

Procurement Capacity Building: Support in these areas made significant strides that have resulted in several tertiary institutions in the country including procurement studies in their academic undergraduate and postgraduate studies. These and many other numerous developmental projects were signed in August 2006 and the compact went into force in February 2007.

The Battle of the Pink Sheets

Article 64 (1) of the 1992 Constitution “The validity of the election of the President may be challenged only by a citizen of Ghana who may present a petition for the purpose to the Supreme Court within twenty-one days after the declaration of the result of the election in respect of which the petition is presented”. Ghana in 2012 witnessed its first televised elections petition with a star witness in the person of Dr. Bawumia. The battle to overturn election results in a legal and peacefully manner saw legal luminaries such as Tsatsu Tsikata make a case for his clients. This saw the emergence of a witness having to prove the many irregularities overlooked by the electoral commission in declaring the election results in favour of the NDC.

As tedious as it was for the defendant, Dr. Bawumia presented thousands of Pink sheets indicating improper tally and entries making the majority of the declared results invalid. The education and flaws pointed out by Dr. Bawumia enlightened both judges and citizens watching to acknowledge the bare facts which subsequently led to major reforms in the electoral process in Ghana. Despite the decision not being overturned, Dr. Bawumia became a household name and left a great impression on the minds of Ghanaians as a smart and capable leader helping increase the fortunes of the NPP in 2016. This confirms the biblical saying in Ecclesiastes 9:10 that “Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with your might; for there is no work or device or knowledge or wisdom in the grave where you are going.” DMB as he is affectionately called distinguished himself when given the opportunity and indeed, he was the “Poster Boy” for the 2016 and 2020 elections for the NPP.

The Digital Man

A man on a mission is never distracted, regardless of the boundaries and obstacles. Before his exit from the Bank of Ghana in 2008, Dr. Bawumia was on a tangent of digitizing Ghana’s economy with initiatives such as an E-Zwich common platform for all financial institutions and the inclusion of the 121 rural banks and drawing a large number of underserved people in the financial system under the Millennium Challenge Account Ghana Compact. Dr. Bawumia continued the path of strengthening Ghana’s economy through digitalization upon assuming office in 2017 Dr. Bawumia as Vice President of Ghana has fast-tracked many of the processes he began at the Bank of Ghana including the deployment of the Zipline technology for medical healthcare delivery in remote areas, paperless National Health Insurance registration and renewal, paperless port system, digitization of the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Authority (DVLA), National Digital Property Addressing System, National ID Cards, ECG power purchase, Mobile payments interoperability platform and many other digitization platforms been initiated to aid economic development, streamline government revenues and to enhance service delivery and lower the wait time for transacting business in Ghana to increase productivity.

These projects and policies have led to worldwide recognition including being adjudged Africa’s Digital Revolutionary Leader of the Decade and the iconic name the “Digital Man”, revolutionizing the Ghanaian economic sector from a brick-and-mortar system to an advanced state where technology sets the pace for national development.

The Future: The Life of a Man Favoured by Destiny

The school of thought on destiny are divided between a crafted God’s plan and one crafted by man’s decision and character. From 7th October 1963 till date, one need not be a sage or philosopher to say Dr. Bawumia is favoured by destiny and own decisions and character molded in truth, accountability and loyalty.

The chronicles of life events and the paths paved for you by the divine creator have led you into a time and space where your experience, in-depth knowledge and skills present solutions in the most turbulent times in the history of Ghana. Our country is more favoured to have you as a gift. The future as set in motion by the divine intervention of God; coupled with your decisions and character has been well founded and unshaken with a reward in sight in the coming years. This journey of dedicated service and loyalty to Party and Country will be crowned by the Almighty not for yourself but for the purpose to continue to share with Ghana, Africa and the world the gift you are.

As today marks a milestone of a new cycle, may the future behold your glory. Happy 59^th birthday to you Sir!

Assalaamu Alaikum!!!

#The best to lead

By: Prince Amadu Anuwar-Sadat

Email: [email protected]

Mobile: (0244456674)

NB: The writer is the Administrator of the NPP National Youth Wing, a Law Graduate, a Political Researcher, a practicing Customer Experience Specialist, a Business & Brands Consultant, an Author, a Youth Activist and an International Relations & Diplomacy Student.