Ghanaians are still waiting for Dr. Bawumia to engage the media

The apparent silence of the New Patriotic Party’s (NPP) flagbearer, Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia to ignore the numerous calls by Ghanaians for him to engage the media in an open and transparent manner Former president Mahama did is alarming and interesting.

Yet, the, the current Vice president is strenuously calling for a presidential debate between himself and the flagbearer of the National Democratic Congress (NDC). Well, it is within his right to call for such a debate, however, it is within our rights as Ghanaians to decide if such a debate is needed or not, but before that happens, Dr. Bawumia should engage the media and give them the opportunity to ask him questions on behalf of the citizens, this is in the spirit of transparency.

Former president Mahama has been transparent with Ghanaians by presenting himself to the media, who subjected him to microscopic scrutiny, the media scrutinised him with series of questions and he came out squeaky clean, unscathed with his integrity enhanced.

The organisers of the media encounter did not invite only media houses that sympathises with the National Democratic Congress (NDC), instead, they invited almost every media house in the country and allowed each of them to ask the NDC flagbearer questions after his sterling extempore speech. This is courageous initiative that can only be adopted by someone who has no skeleton in their wardrobe.

Ghanaians are anxiously waiting for Dr. Bawumia to also engage the media in the same manner that former president Mahama did, after that, then the possibility of a presidential debate will be analysed. Dr. Bawumia and his team should not be selective in the media organisations that attends, they should not invite only Peace FM, Asempa FM, Oman FM, Daily Guide, Asaase Radio and their ilk, but they should invite all media organisations as the NDC did.

Dr. Bawumia in all his political life has never ever engaged the media in such a manner, both when in opposition and in government, therefore, this is the best opportunity for him to do so and give Ghanaians the opportunity to clearly understand his policies, records and achievements. Failure to do so will be an indication of lack of transparency and honesty on the part of the NPP flagbearer.

Ghanaians deserve to know why he accused the former president of incompetence at a time when the exchange rate was USD1 to GHC3.6, at a time when the national debt stock was GHC122 billion, unemployment at 7% and inflation at 14%. He should engage the media and answer whether the fundamentals are weak or not because he famously stated that “you can engage in all the propaganda you want, but if the fundamentals are weak the exchange rate will expose you”. Today the exchange rate is USD1 to GHC16, national debt stock is GHC650 billion, unemployment 14% and inflation at 23.7% after it went as high as 57%, he should go to the media and answer these questions. We deserve to know what he is doing to salvage the situation.

Dr. Bawumia should engage the media and answer why he has failed to restore the value of the cedi, because he delivered a lecture on 25th May 2014, at the Central University College, with the title “How to restore the value of the cedi” at the time USD1 was GHC3.60 and uploaded the lecture on twitter (now X) and referred former president Mahama to go and learn from his uploaded lecture how restore the value of the cedi.

We definitely need to know why Dr. Bawumia has performed abysmally as a vice president, perhaps he was side-lined by his bosses, we need to know. We need to know how he intends to deal with corrupt officials under the current government in the unlikely event that he becomes the president.

Ghanaians need to know his views on the National cathedral, the current state capture, the free fall of the cedi, the high inflation, and the high debs stock among others. We will not relent nor flinch in calling on the vice president to engage the media.