John Dramani Mahama, the flagbearer of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), has stepped up his calls on Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia, the presidential candidate of the New Patriotic Party, to confront important issues pertaining to Ghana’s economy instead of sidestepping with “useless” questions.
Former President Mahama slammed Vice President Bawumia’s initial economic questions and his list of 50 counter-questions during a rally in the Savelugu Constituency on Wednesday.
This is in response to Dr. Bawumia’s recent decision to use his own set of 50 questions in answer to Mr. Mahama’s five economic questions.
Mr Mahama had initially challenged Dr Bawumia to address critical economic issues, asking:
- Why is the exchange rate now GH¢17 to the dollar?
- Why has Ghana’s debt increased from GH¢120 billion to GH¢767 billion in the past eight years?
- Why has inflation risen to 54% under the current administration?
- Why has the government borrowed GH¢42 billion from the Bank of Ghana?
- Why he is running away from the economy and focusing on digitalisation?
At Savelugu, Mr. Mahama reiterated these queries and challenged Dr. Bawumia to provide a straight response, claiming that they represent the worries of common Ghanaians.
“I woke up this morning and saw 50 questions from him. It looks like our Vice President has just memorised these things like we used to learn poems in primary school.
“I asked you five simple questions that Ghanaians want you to answer, and instead, you respond with, ‘How many compost plants did you build?’ That’s not the issue in Ghana today.”
To emphasize the importance of economic issues, Mr Mahama drew a parallel with the 1992 U.S. election, citing the Clinton campaign’s famous slogan, “It’s the economy, stupid!” He stated, “I am repeating those words. This election is about the economy, Stupid. It is not about all those useless things who built how many compost plants.”
DISCLAIMER: The Views, Comments, Opinions, Contributions and Statements made by Readers and Contributors on this platform do not necessarily represent the views or policy of Ekuzoa Media.