A former Ghana High Commissioner to the United Kingdom (UK), Ambassador Victor Smith has criticised Vice President Dr Mahamadu Bawumia for the country’s economic downturn which has pushed many people into poverty.
Like himself, Mr Smith said Ghanaians cannot comprehend how Bawumia has ignored the pain and trauma he and President Akufo Addo and his appointees and cronies have visited upon the good people of Ghana for the last eight years, and still have the temerity to go round the country asking Ghanaians to vote for himn.
In an open letter to Bawumia who is now the presidential candidate for the governing NPP, Ambassador Smith said “under your watch, as head of the economic management team in the Akufo Addo administration, Ghana’s debt to GDP is now about 85% and our total debt stock since Ghana’s independence, has mushroomed from 120bn cedis in 2016 to about 750bn cedis in the 8 years that your government has been in office.”
He added that the mismanagement of the country’s economy has put “a heavy burden on the head & shoulders of future governments and future generations.”
“Is this something you are proud of, trying to sell yourself to be voted for as President ?” he quizzed.
Below is the letter;
You have no moral right to ask Ghanaians to vote for you as President… Open letter to Vice President Bawumia by Victor Smith
———————————-
Mr Vice President, Dr Mahamudu Bawumia, I, and, I believe, many people of conscience, cannot comprehend how you can ignore the pain and trauma you and President Akufo Addo and his appointees and cronies have visited upon the good people of Ghana for the last eight years, and still have the temerity to go round the country asking Ghanaians to vote for you to continue in government on 7th December, 2024.
The good people of Ghana have seen enough of the mess and suffered enough untold hardships that you, and your team have brought upon us. Even many of those who voted you into power too, have no more faith in the selfish and incompetent administration of which you are the Vice President .
In 2016, your infamous rhyme of “ Teachers are suffering, teacher-trainees are suffering, Nurses are suffering, nurse-trainees are suffering etc etc should be ringing loudest in your ears today than in 2016 and please, do not continue to blame this situation on externalities such as Covid-19 or Ukraine or Israel- Gaza conflict.
In 2016 when the exchange rate was under 4 cedis to one dollar, it was you who propounded the theory which has come to haunt you today, that “ You can engage in all the propaganda you want, but if the economic fundamentals are weak, the exchange rate will expose you” . I am sure you have heard so many commentators ridiculing you with that theory, haven’t you? Because today, with the exchange rates going through the roof, whenever you are referred to that same theory that you propounded and asked to justify your claim that your government has done better than the previous government , you have the cheekiness to say that “ it is warped logic”.
Meanwhile, under your watch, as head of the economic management team in the Akufo Addo administration, Ghana’s debt to GDP is now about 85% and our total debt stock since Ghana’s independence, has mushroomed from 120bn cedis in 2016 to about 750bn cedis in the 8 years that your government has been in office, putting a heavy burden on the head & shoulders of future governments and future generations. Is this something you are proud of, trying to sell yourself to be voted for as President ?
In the 8 years that your government has presided over Ghana’s economy you have, by your acts and or omissions and incompetence , reduced household incomes of many families, and sustainably impoverished households of many rural communities ; you have collapsed a number of indigenous banks and financial institutions and taken away the sources of daily bread for many families; many professional middle income breadwinners have had to resort to “by day” low income or menial jobs to provide food and health care for their families while many more are struggling by engaging in “hala hala”to survive. Is this something you are proud of?
In 2016, when you thirsted for power together with your boss, President Akufo Addo, you engaged in peddling several falsehoods about President Mahama and his administration and recklessly made several promises to win power; what became of those lofty promises: one village- one dam, one constituency one million dollars, one district one factory? You and the NPP leadership told several untruths to tarnish the image of President Mahama, of particular note being the so-called “Airbus scandal”. What was the outcome, Dr Vice President? You guys aren’t ashamed enough to say sorry to the good people of this country?
You and your boss, have not only presided over such mismanagement of our country and the economy , but have also supervised the highest level ever, of corruption, outright thievery and misappropriation of state resources and assets for the benefit of a few of your cronies, family & friends.
On corruption, you and your boss, the President, have calculatedly frustrated both of the OSPs that you appointed in the 8 years to the extent that the first Special Prosecutor had to resign, referring directly to your boss as “ mother serpent of corruption“ and the second and current Special Prosecutor referring to himself as “Anko anoma ” to wit the lonely bird.
You and your boss’s leadership has been referred to as a “clearing house” for corruption and other misdeeds by your appointees notably the Cecilia Dapaah “millions of US dollars at home” saga and the Wontumi galamsey mining in a forest reserve.
You said “we have the men”, and trumpeted, “ Dr Akoto Osei, Osafo Marfo, Prof Gyan Baffuor etc, and emphasized “ what a solid team” etc etc. Aren’t you ashamed of what your so-called “solid team” has delivered to the people of Ghana in 8 years? And for you to have that effrontery to blow so much money campaigning to ask for our mandate so you can finally put the nail in the coffin for our country ?
I, and, I dare say, many Ghanaians would rather wish to advise you and your incompetent & selfish NPP apparatchiks to spare us the agony.
We don’t need this kind of stress anymore, certainly not at this time. What we need now is a serious team of experienced, knowledgeable competent and selfless men and women with a commitment to transform and sustainably develop the country for the benefit , wellbeing and prosperity of the good people of Ghana.
This government , of which you are the Vice President today and have been so, for nearly eight years, clearly, is not fit for purpose. It was a grand deception, designed to scam Ghanaians and has indeed been a monumental failure. The worst in the history of Ghana.
