Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia
As a secondary school student in the late 1980s and early 1990s, I did experience my share of academic rivalry. There was a girl called Gladys who made everyone play the catching-up role in all the subjects except English Language.
Though I did my best to beat her in English, she was always a close second. I hear she is now a heart surgeon in Obroniland.
Even though the few brilliant ones, yours truly inclusive, publicly expressed their determination to match her academically, they knew deep within that it was all false bravado. Simply put, we all knew she was far ahead of us and the best we could do was to fight for a distant second.
I recalled the story because the scenario is being replayed on the political stage in Ghana. Time and again, you hear those under the eagle-headed Umbrella calling Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia all manner of names. Some say he is a half-baked Economist, while others call him ‘Walewale Adam Smith’. But deep down in their hearts they know he is their political nemesis.
Any good student of politics would agree that Dr. Bawumia’s devastating punches during the 2016 campaign helped the Great Elephant to knockout the eagle-headed Umbrella in the political boxing match in that election.
Aside his party’s beautiful campaign message, which many of the electorate bought, he contributed significantly in making President Ogwanfunu and the Umbrella unpopular by punching holes in their lame economic policies.
I vividly remember how he exposed the incompetence of the late vice-president, Wofa P K. The poor late vice-president became a laughing stock in the country and beyond.
As chairman of the Economic Management Team, Dr. Bawumia and his team managed to resuscitate the dying economy, which was on life-support. But his political opponents spoke, saw and heard nothing good about the economy.
Seeing that the Dead-Goat was trying to resurrect, Dr. Bawumia sneezed and wondered why ‘The Incompetent One’ was trying to make a return to the presidency to cause more damage. Not having any convincing responses, those under the Umbrella resorted to pure insults. The enlightened electorate did not allow themselves to be deceived by Zu-za in the 2020 polls. The Dead-Goat could not resurrect.
Abusuapanin, we all saw the ravaging effect of the dreaded COVID-19 pandemic. Not only did it send a lot of human capital to their early grave, but also brought almost all economies to their knees. Strong economies such as Germany, the United Kingdom and almighty United States felt the negative effects of the pandemic.
Indeed, if the green leaves were falling off, then one could only imagine the fate of the dry ones. So Ghana’s economy taking a beating as a result of the pandemic was no news.
A bad situation was made worse when Putin’s Russia invaded Ukraine. Oil prices skyrocketed, many currencies nosedived against the dollar and food prices began to rise.
Kwame Okro’s Asomdwekrom was no exception. My compatriots started complaining about the resultant hardship. Those under the Umbrella capitalised on the situation to score political points. They shouted their voices hoarse as they called on Dr. Bawumia to speak on the matter.
Smart as he is, he did not rush to speak. Led by President Nana Dee himself, the Osono went on a retreat where they postulated some solutions. Three weeks on, the economy has stabilised, the Cedi is gradually regaining its strength, and food and oil prices have become stable.
The smart Vice-President finally responded with a loud sneeze. He did not shy away from the hardships being endured by his compatriots. He inspired hope as he explained the practical steps being taken to strengthen the economy.
He also proved with data that despite all the challenges of the last two years, even with COVID-19, the growth of the economy is fundamentally stronger than it was under the reign of the Dead-Goat.
As usual, the aspersions, misrepresentations and outright insults are the responses from the Zu-za camp. It is in times like this that I’m reminded of how blessed I am to be a member of the Great Elephant family!
See you next week for another interesting konkonsa, Deo volente!