The Bolgatanga Central MP, Isaac Adongo, is discontented with Vice President, Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia’s address on the state of Ghana’s economy.
Ghanaians had mounted pressure on Dr. Bawumia to speak on the economy, especially as he had been projected by the NPP as Ghana’s economic messiah who had the blueprint to rescue Ghana from its economic woes.
Speaking on Metro TV’s Good morning Ghana, Mr. Adongo said “it was important that we got the Vice President to speak because when the ship is sinking, you want to be comfortable that there is leadership that will rescue you. When the Vice President speaks, you want to go with high points that give him some comfort. Unfortunately, I got more of the same feeling I listened to him with and I was wondering whether someone was actually in charge of this economy.”
“Anyone who engages in economics average, particularly in a crisis regime is telling you that their performance in the last compensates for whatever challenges we are facing, which is not the reality. Especially when someone deals in the economics of averages in a dishonest way, it is more worrying. NDC had been in government for 8 years. If you want to do a 5-year comparison do so, if it is 8 you want to do, we have a 4-year record. You can’t consistently compare 4 years to 5 years. Even level 100 students won’t do that.”
He said what the Vice President was supposed to do was to honestly share with Ghanaians the economic outlook.
“Are we descending or ascending? If we are descending, what is the medium to long-term outlook going to look like, based on the measures we are putting in place.”
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“We don’t look to the past for comfort but the future for comfort and confidence in the economy. Yesterday [Thursday], Bawumia lost a huge opportunity to speak directly to the people who are worried about the economy,” he added.
The MP’s comments came after the Vice President delivered an address on the economy on Thursday, April 7, 2022.
Speaking at an event jointly organised by the Danquah Institute and the NPP’s TESCON at Kasoa in the Central Region, the Vice President touched on issues bordering on Ghana’s rising debt stock, the cedi depreciation, inflation rate, and the impact of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine on the Ghanaian economy.
However, he was silent on the controversial Electronic Transfer Levy (E-levy) during his address.
The only time the Vice President came close to mentioning the tax policy was when he was talking about taxes and levies abolished or reduced by the Akufo-Addo government within the last five years.
