Former President John Dramani Mahama says Vice President Dr Mahamudu Bawumia cannot exonerate himself from the “mess” of the Akufo-Addo-led government.
According to him, Dr Bawumia who is now the flag bearer of the governing New Patriotic Party (NPP) for Election 2024, was part of every decision President Akufo-Addo took and therefore cannot say he is not part of the government’s “failures”.
For him, Vice President Bawumia took part in all the cabinet decisions of the government, hence must equally take responsibility for both the good and bad side of the government.
Mr Mahama who is the flagbearer of the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) was speaking NDC faithful in Tamale in the Northern region as part of his town hall meetings.
Dr Bawumia on Wednesday, February 6, 2024, at a public lecture outlined his vision as a presidential hopeful.
At the lecture, held at the auditorium of the University of Professional Studies, Accra (UPSA) urged Ghanaians to give him the chance to lead the country in order to turn the country’s economic fortunes.
Former President Mahama said Dr Bawumia’s claim that he was not responsible for the government’s major decisions cannot be taken since he played a major role in the Akufo-Addo-led government.
“Now all those who contributed to the mess are trying to run away from it as if they are not part of it…. people have begun saying they were not in charge….” he stated.
He added “None of them can escape responsibility because they’ve all been part of this. They all took those decisions together. Anytime they were going to borrow from the Eurobond market, they approved it in cabinet; they sat in cabinet and approved it,” former President Mahama stated.
He said Dr Bawumia was also part in all the loans that the Akufo-Addo-led government took, saying “Six years, you went and borrowed 13.5 billion dollars and you did nothing with it. So, today, you can’t come and tell us you were not part of it. All of them are part of the mess we find ourselves in it.”
He was of the view that considering the mess that the Akufo-Addo-led government has created, “Ghanaians are going to send them packing for the hardships they’ve inflicted on us.”