Vice President Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia and Wife Samira On the streets of London On Saturday
Bogus speculations largely coming from the camp of the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) to the effect that Vice President Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia has either been ‘poisoned’ or ‘knocked’ down by mild stroke has backfired.
This is because an audio-visual recording has gone viral, especially on social media showing the vice president in a hearty mood.
It is unclear who released the video footage but it shows Dr Bawumia in the company of his wife, Samira Bawumia, walking on the streets of London, United Kingdom, in a hearty conversation.
The couple was seen along the Oxford Street in the British capital responding to cheers from people who easily identified them.
He was seen exchanging pleasantries with someone who looks like a Ghanaian.
Dr Bawumia, who has almost become a thorn in the flesh of the NDC because of his exposure on the poor management of the national economy by the erstwhile Mahama administration, was reported ill a week ago and took time off to rest in the United Kingdom (UK) in what official statement described as medical leave.
A statement by the government on the health of the vice president, however, took many Ghanaians by surprise, but left others with ulterior motives to make wild speculations.
Some NDC elements seized the opportunity and made various spurious claims, with some suggesting that the vice president had been hit by a mild stroke, whilst others claimed he had been poisoned.
They even went to the extent of putting out a cooked coroner’s report which they claimed was a confidential document, declaring the onetime Deputy Governor of the Bank of Ghana (BoG) and respected economist dead.
They were at their mischievous best in their bid to ‘dismiss’ the statement from the Office of the Chief of Staff, Frema Osei-Opare, assuring Ghanaians that Vice President Bawumia was doing well.
Also, those claiming to have spiritual powers, particularly pastors, also entered the fray with ‘prophecies,’ creating the impression that the vice president was in serious danger.
However, the video coming out appears to have put an end to the spurious speculations.
In the said video, which lasted barely a minute, all-smiling Vice President Bawumia was seen strolling the streets of London with the wife without any visible security detail.
A gentleman, who passes by them, recognises the vice president and his wife and turns to go and greet them.
He introduces himself as a Ghanaian by name Christian Asante and exchanges pleasantries and wished them well before they parted company.
Interestingly, since the short video surfaced, the NDC has changed the narrative on Dr Bawumia having been either poisoned or suffered a stroke to one that suggests that the video is an old one. They even sent one of their apparatchiks in London to verify it and returned with a verdict that the video was fresh, indicating that it was not from the archives.
Others, including the registrar of the NDC’s ideological school – the Ghana Institute of Social Democracy (GISD) – Peter Boamah Otukonor, who is also a Deputy Director of Research of the party, have also shifted away from the initial propaganda to ask why the vice president and his wife would be left walking the streets of London without any security detail, thereby exposing them to risk.
The video seems to have put some smiles back on the faces of many Ghanaians, including friends and family, especially members of his own party – the ruling New Patriotic Party (NPP) and the government.
Guys Hospital
Just last Friday, Gabby Asare Otchere-Darko, a private legal practitioner and former executive director of the Danquah Istitute, who had the opportunity of visiting the second gentleman, dispelled any notion that the vice president was on admission.
Gabby said Dr Bawumia was rather resting in the United Kingdom, dismissing the claim that he (Bawumia) is at a certain Guys Hospital in London receiving treatment.
In a post on his Facebook wall, Gabby wrote, “I am told Guys Hospital staff are very unhappy. Many Ghanaians trooping there asking to see a patient they’d never heard of – not even his picture rings any visual bells – don’t believe what you read in NDC ‘news.’
“Well, I’m in London and have had opportunities to spend some good, jovial and intellectual sweet moments with Dr Bawumia but far from the view of any nurse or doctor; in some small, decent flat he has rented for the very short time he is away here on leave. My mistake was to attempt to tease him about his team, Tottenham Hotspurs. I wish I hadn’t!”
By Charles Takyi-Boadu