Grounded Before Takeoff: The Case Against a Bawumia Candidacy

“The trouble with Nigeria is simply and squarely a failure of leadership.” Chinua Achebe

The Tarmac of Trials
In times of national reckoning, neutrality becomes betrayal. As Ghana approaches a pivotal election, the prospect of a Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia candidacy threatens to overload the nation’s aspirations with unresolved baggage. Leadership cannot be born from unresolved stewardship. As A.B.A. Fuseini cautions, “A man who has died in the market needs no announcement for his funeral.”

I. Legacy and Liability: The Fruit Tells the Tree

“No one puts new wine into old wineskins.” — Luke 5:37

Once presented as the fiscal architect of a new Ghana, Dr. Bawumia’s legacy now mirrors a plane that promised lift but delivered turbulence. The economy under his watch has teetered — cedi depreciation, unsustainable debt, and recurring dependence on bailouts.

His digitalization crusade, while sound in theory, remains riddled with half-complete systems, opaque contracts, and alienated end users. As Jesus declared, “By their fruit you shall know them” (Matthew 7:16), and the harvest is thin.

“If you use spittle to build a house, dew will push it down.” — Dagomba Proverb

II. Flight Demands Lift: Trust Is the Thrust of Governance

Public trust is not optional; it is the wind beneath a government’s wings. Without it, policy becomes platitude and innovation mere cosmetics. While Dr. Bawumia still speaks the language of technocracy, the people see eroding wages, worsening services, and broken promises.

“Rome did not fall by external invasion, but from within — through denial, distraction, and decay.” — Historical Analogy

Just as the Byzantine Empire preserved rituals while losing relevance, Ghana cannot afford ceremony over substance. No leader can pilot a nation whose citizens have lost confidence in the cockpit.

III. Thrones Without Mirrors: Loyalty and the Trap of Echo Chambers

“Rehoboam rejected the advice of the elders, and the kingdom tore in two.” — 1 Kings 12

When leadership selections become coronations, truth is often the first casualty. The ruling party risks trading national momentum for internal convenience. Dr. Bawumia’s candidacy may serve palace politics, but it risks alienating the people. Internal critics are silenced with “party unity”; meanwhile, the streets echo with discontent.

“When you see a pregnant goat in the market, it means there are a lot of problems in the house.” — A.B.A. Fuseini

IV. The People Remember: Euphemisms Are Expired

The Ghanaian public is not a blank slate — it’s a living archive of broken promises. Slick data presentations cannot mask lived realities: erratic electricity, mounting joblessness, and a cost of living that grows heavier by the day.

“When suffering knocks at your door and you say there is no seat for him, he tells you not to worry because he has brought his own stool.” — Chinua Achebe

Even biblical Israel knew when to call out failed priesthoods. So too, Ghanaians today demand leadership not cloaked in privilege but rooted in justice, empathy, and competence.

Conclusion: Prune to Rise — Declutter or Descend

“To everything there is a season…” — Ecclesiastes 3:1

This must be a season of pruning — not preserving the rot. Leadership is not a birthright; it is a burden borne for the public good. Ghana cannot afford to repeat the mistakes of entrusting national vision to figures symbolizing stagnation.

“The testicle that will become a hernia is spotted the very day it drops.” — A.B.A. Fuseini

If the ruling party insists on ignoring the weight of public fatigue and moral inquiry, it may find not a runway to victory, but a terminal of regret.

Retired Senior Citizen
Teshie-Nungua
[email protected]
The writer is a governance analyst and policy advocate committed to ethical leadership and economic independence in Ghana.