The analysis of Ghana’s economy as presented by vice president Dr Mahamudu Bawumia in the run-up to the 2016 elections were defective, Dr Tony Aidoo has said.
He said Dr Bawumia failed to consider some key elements in comparing the eight-year administration of the John Kufuor and that of the Mills-Mahama era, noting the communication team of the NDC failed the test of challenging that.
“What I missed was the inability of the NDC communication team to bring out the facts so as to challenge the comparative analysis that Dr Bawumia was making. Dr Bawumia was the Achilles heel of the NDC not only for the 2016 elections but he started way back in 2012.
Speaking exclusively to TV3 for the first time since his return to Ghana from diplomatic duties in the Netherlands, Dr. Aidoo said though the then vice presidential candidate of the NPP had a leverage, his comparative assessment of Ghana’s economy in the run-up to the general election were not factual.
“He ignored the fact that for the most part of the Kufuor administration; the eight years was virtually carried by donor financial support. All the social interventions that Kufuor implemented were donor supported,” he said.
The seasoned politician said when Ghana joined HIPC in 2002, the country had its debt burden removed, something he argued, gave the Kufuor administration the freedom to manoeuvre to grow the economy.
Dr. Aidoo said in 2005 Ghana’s creditors wrote off 66 per cent of the country’s debt, noting, “at the time our national debt was about 6.8 billion dollars.
“In effect, our debt to GDP ratio certainly dropped sharply so on what grounds can Bawumia compare that an economy that was virtually carried by donor financial support was managed better than an economy that did not have those support?” he questioned.
Dr. Aidoo said it is against this background that it is important to have people with historical recall to be part of the communication team, adding “if you don’t have people with historical recall, administrative memory then seriously your communication becomes defective”.
For him, the NDC communication team should have challenged Dr Bawumia on issues he raised about the economy “because his comparative analysis and conclusions were flawed.
On whether vice president at the time, Paa Kwesi Amissah-Arthur should have challenged Dr. Bawumia on those issues, he said “maybe he should have [spoke] on the hindsight.”
By Stephen Kwabena Effah|3news.com|Ghana