A former staff of the Bank of Ghana (BoG) and the International Monetary Fund (IMF), and currently the Director of Research at the Institute of Economic Affairs (IEA), Dr J. K. Kwakye has expressed concern over some important issues the Vice President, Dr Mahamudu Bawumia failed to speak on during his address on Wednesday, February 7 2024.
The Institute of Economic Affairs Director of Research in a long article argued that even though Dr. Bawumia’s speech outlined some possible changes he intends to embark upon which are directly against the ruling government, his complete silence over certain key issues were very worrying.
According to Dr Kwakye, key among the issues that the New Patriotic Party flagbearer failed to speak on during his maiden address include the fate of the controversial or unsuccessful initiatives such as One Village-One Dam, One Constituency-One $Million, the National Cathedral, National Building Corps, and the government YouStart progrmme.
“Dr. Bawumia’s speech left many questions unanswered. While he stated the changes he would make to some NPP policies and programmes, he seems to have left out many others”
Dr J.K. Kwakye
Dr. Kwakye further pointed out that the Vice President’s future political and economic philosophy could be largely be influenced by his stance on the above mentioned issues, particularly ahead of his presidential campaign for the 2024 general elections.
Furthermore, Dr Kwakye pointed out that the Vice President, Dr Mahamudu Bawumia in his address failed to speak on his running mate and further argued that both Dr. Bawumia and former President Mahama seem to be hedging on the issue, possibly waiting to capitalize on the one who takes the lead.
Dr Kwakye strongly posited that the choice of a running mate, to the New Patriotic Party flagbearer will not only impact his political trajectory but could also provide insights into his considerations for factors such as region, ethnicity, religion, gender, or age.
According to Dr. Kwakye, the Vice President might even surprise his party by naming someone outside the New Patriotic Party, equally like what former President John Agyekum Kufuor did at some point in his political career.
Dr Kwakye Urges Political Parties To Chat A New Path
Moreover, Dr. J. K. Kwakye, a former staff of Bank of Ghana and the International Monetary Fund cautioned the Vice President, Dr Mahamudu Bawumia and other presidential aspirants, particularly among the two leading political parties in the country, the National Democratic Congress and the New Patriotic Party to chat a new path that would bring prosperity to Ghanaians.
He thus urged the ruling New Patriotic Party and the opposition National Democratic Congress to break away from the traditional patterns of governance that have disappointed Ghanaians for 32 years and rather focus on policies and programs that would transform Ghana.
Dr. Kwakye strongly recommended that both the ruling New Patriotic Party and the opposition National Democratic Congress must admit their mistakes and rather focus on providing concrete and development oriented plans and policies which would translate to transformational development for Ghana.
“We are rich underground yet poor above ground! We have no business going to the IMF17 times or western capitals to seek aid or reparation. We only need to own our natural resource wealth and leverage it to support transformational policies that would deliver tangible economic benefits to our people and alleviate their poverty”.
Dr J. K. Kwakye
Dr Kwakye further posited that Ghanaians are looking for honest, competent, and non-corrupt leadership, hence the New Patriotic Party and the National Democratic Congress must begin to eschew the habit of engaging in ‘blame games’ and rather focus on politics that would promote development in the country.
He emphasized the importance for the two main political parties to make better use of the country’s natural resource wealth and leverage on it to support transformational policies that would deliver tangible economic benefits for the people of Ghana.
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