NPP Blackmailing Nana Addo to Attract Support for a Flagbearer with No Firm Stand

As we advance towards election 2024 on 7^th December, various presidential hopefuls, including H.E. John Dramani Mahama and H.E. Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia are combing round the country to promise, account and seek the support of voters to maintain or change the government. The accounting responsibly largely falls on the ruling NPP to demonstrate to Ghanaians what they have used our national revenue for in the last 7 years. Their flagbearer, Dr. Bawumia is running from this responsibility as he claims he is only a ‘driver mate’ and that if there are ills in the government’s performance, then president Akuffo Addo should be called to answer for such ills. Dr bawumia’s position has been largely supported by the rank and file of the NPP because they appear not to be happy with how the economy has been ran in this administration.

But why must key actors in this government running away from accountability? The truth is that there is nothing to account. The macro-economic fundamentals are so disastrous such that we are not able to pay our debts, both domestic and external, pay pension and insurance contributions regularly and the District Assemblies Common Fund is in arrears to the tune of about GHC6.50 billion.

It is also important to remind Ghanaians of the economic fundamentals the NPP and their flagbearer rejected in 2016. They rejected 16% inflation rate but now 25%, Monetary Policy Rate of 25.5% percent but now 29%, Average Commercial Banks Lending Rate of 28% but now 37%, 91Day T Bill of 17% but now 25%, Cedi to Dollar rate of GHC4.20 but now GHC14.72 and so on and so forth. If the NPP in 2016 rejected these fundamental and used them as their cardinal message to winning 2016 elections how are they going to convince Ghanaians to accept even worse indicators. It is understandable that they are running away from their performance and scapegoating President Nana Addo.

We have seen Dr. Bawumia since 2017, shifting his stance on what his role actually is in this government. In fact, he is not genuine. In NPPs first 100 days in office, he claimed they have arrested the cedi and given the keys to the IGP. They proceeded to hold a meet the press in 2017 which they pledged it was going to be an annual event. All economic questions were referred to Dr. Bawumia by President Nana Addo in that press engagement. We have also head Former Senior Minister, Yaw Osafo Marfo praise of Dr. Bawumia about how he has been supportive of the Economic Management Team. Not all, he called the Economic Management Team he leads as a fantastic team and asked if anyone remembers John Mahama’s Economic Management Team. I refer you to these few examples to demonstrate to you that the Vice President, Dr. Bawumia was actually in charge of economic management and must account for his role as leader of the team.

When the economy turned worse from 2019, Dr. Bawumia turned himself into a digitalization expert. He held a lecture on digitalization to usher in the most unpopular tax in Ghana’s history, the E-levy. We also saw his championing of a gold for oil deal, etc. Since 2017, he has been touching and running away because all the things he claimed to be championing are not yielding any good results for him. No wonder many Ghanaians famously refer to him as a liar.

Aside the worse economic fundamentals, they have not delivered in their promises. They were engaged in heavy pandemic propaganda and punishing discerning Ghanaians and media houses who refused to buy their lies. They practically refused to honour the major promises that delivered the 2016 elections for them. They promised a dam for each village in the north (1V1D) but non was delivered. They did a few dugouts and wrongly labeled them as dams. Not a single payment of $1 million per constituency was done and their so called one district on factory was a complete failure. To whitewash their flagbearer, somebody must be blackmailed and made an outcast and Nana Addo was singled out for this.

The NPP Presidential Candidate’s shifting of blame for economic woes to Pesident Nana Addo is a clear indication that there is disunity at the seat of government otherwise it is childish for any person to be occupying the high seat of the Vice President and be running away from the accountability role attached to it. It is therefore refreshing that President Mahama’s Running Mate in her outdooring mentioned that “I will share in our collective successes and share responsibility for our setbacks if any. And at the time of reckoning, Your Excellency John Mahama, I will not in advancement of self-serving ambition declare to the whole world that I was only the driver’s mate.” Prof. Jane is conditioning our minds to accept that there is dignity being a Vice President and that such high office should not be occupied by a pandemic liar and an unstable fellow like the NPP’s flagbearer. If we have made a mistake in raising him to the status of a Vice President, it will be completely wrong to make a bigger mistake of honouring him the position of a President of Ghana.

In scapegoating Nana Addo, it is their wish that he is not part of them. In fact, the NPP do not want Nana Addo to campaign for them but for John Mahama or any other candidate. They want the Kenya situation that delivered the current President of Kenya, William Ruto but unfortunately for them, president Nana Addo is determined to be part of the NPP’s failure story. He wants his corrupt and disastrous legacy to be protected at all cost and believes Dr. Bawumia will be the exact person in protecting that legacy.