Vice President and New Patriotic Party (NPP) flagbearer Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia has addressed the question of whether he will accept responsibility and apologise for the country’s economic crisis, particularly after being hailed as an economic Messiah who would assist the president in maintaining a stable economy.
During a media engagement on Sunday, August 25, at the Movenpick Ambassador Hotel in Accra, he touted several initiatives undertaken by this NPP government.
To him, it is very interesting to be asked to apologise because of the work the NPP has achieved.
He, among other things, stated that for the first time in Ghana’s history, we have a national identification system, indicating that the government has championed the registration of babies under the system.
This, he said, has never happened in our history, adding that with the Ghana card, you do not need a guarantor for a student loan.
He also made a strong case that, for the first time in Ghana’s history, we have a comprehensive national address system, which we struggled with for 60 years.
Dr. Bawumia, we currently have 100 percent financial inclusion, a national Al drone service delivering medical supplies through 2,094 facilities with over 5,000 deliveries made so far since it was introduced.
The candidate of the running party posited that Ghana has become the largest drone service in the world, beating even the developed countries.
He further highlighted the E-Pharmacy initiative by the NPP since Ghana was the first country in the world to have introduced this program, digitising patient records in all government regional and district hospitals as well as medical facilities, with Ghana being the first in Africa and very few in the world to do that.
He also pointed to the free kidney treatment for people undergoing dialysis treatment, the National Retal Scheme, the Zongo Development Fund, the gold purchase program, and the and the gold for oil program, among other initiatives.
“So when you look at how we are changing Ghana and you look at the performance of the economy before and when we came into office, we are doing much better across virtually every sector than the man who wants to come back. I am very proud of my record.”
When asked why significant tax reforms, such as import duty reductions and taxes, have not been reduced, he said he is only the Vice President and not the President.
“The budget that has gone to Parliament, which has been passed, is not my budget; is it my budget? It’s not my budget.
“The budget goes in the name of the president; it doesn’t go in the name of the vice president,” he stated.He pointed out that even Mahama, with full presidential power, could not fulfil all his promises during his term.
“Even President Mahama, who was president—I’m only vice president—but he was president. Why didn’t he do everything then? I mean, why is he coming back?
“He had full authority. I don’t have full authority,” he stated, underscoring the inherent differences in the roles of president and vice president.
“When you have to think about what you want to do, you come up with new ideas, and I’ve come up with new ideas that I want to do when we come into office,” he said, drawing parallels with other vice presidential candidates worldwide.
By: Rainbowradioonline.com/Ghana
