Bawumia isn't the head of EMT; stop blaming him — Majority Leader

Osei Kyei Mensah-Bonsu, Majority Leader and Minister of Parliamentary Affairs has said there is nothing like Vice President Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia is the constitutional head of the Economic Management Team (EMT).

He clarified that such a portfolio is not enshrined in the 1992 constitution.

Contributing to the debate on the approval of the 2023 budget statement and economic policy plan on the floor of Parliament, the Suame MP said the economy is managed by the Finance Minister.

He insisted that Dr. Mahamadu Bawumia, the Vice President, is not the one managing the economy, as the minority claimed.

"When the minority group discusses the current economic challenges, they chuck along the Vice President as chair of the Economic Management Team of the cabinet.

“After 2011, President Mills had the GDP growth rate drop from 14.4% in 2010 to 9.5% in 2011. When GDP swung down again in 2012, the Vice President (then John Mahama) was chair of EMT, but nobody roped him in," he argued.

He added, “The reason is that the Finance Minister manages the economy for and on behalf of the President, not the Vice President. In the cabinet set-up, in the committee system, the Vice President is not the chairman of the Economic Committee. Vice Presidents have never been."

Mr. Kyei Mensah-Bonsu stressed, "In fact, I should tell you that the Economic Management Team has no constitutional basis. So, when people talk about this, it is just because they want to give the Vice President a bad name, like the proverbial "dog," just give it a bad name and hang it."

This clarification comes after the Vice President had come under intense criticism for failing to manage the country’s economy effectively as the head of the EMT.

The Minority Caucus says his incompetence accounted for the free fall of the Cedi against major foreign currencies, such as the US dollar.