Chartered Accountant lauds Bawumia …and says issues raised are long overdue

By: Issah Alhassan, Kumasi
Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia’s lecture delivered at the Ferdinand O. Ayim Memorial Lecture dominated radio discussions in Kumasi yesterday, with many expressing divergent opinions about the content of the lecture.
While many believe that the New Patriotic Party (NPP) running mate was spot on with some of the issues raised at the lecture, others, obviously on the opposite side of the political divide, think the former Deputy Bank of Ghana Governor only played to the gallery and touched on issues that were not new to the country’s economic discourse.
The demeanour and political maturity of Dr. Bawumia, compared to that of 2008 when he partnered Nana Akufo Addo for the general elections, also came up for discussion, with some commending him for having mastered artistry in public lecture this time round, and having a firm grip on issues going on in the country.
A Chartered Accountant and Business Consultant, Mr. Kusi Boafo, thinks Dr. Bawumia exhibited competence in addressing issues concerning the country’s economy, though he believes the concerns raised were long overdue.
Comparing the NPP running mate to his colleagues like Fifi Kwetey and Dr. Kwabena Duffuor, Mr. Boafo believes the NPP leader, who possesses the magic wand that can turn the economy around, demonstrated competence.
He asserted that though he hammered on what was necessary for the development of the economy, the NPP running mate, however, proffered long term plans rather than short and medium term that will arrest the falling economy and restore the country’s fiscal growth.
“It is a fact in economic terms that once a country continues to experience single digit inflation, it must be accompanied by a reduction in interest rates and other aspects of micro economic indicators. For me, I equally find it difficult to understand why the government should pride itself that it has achieved micro economic stability without its accompanying changes,” he noted.
Mr. Boafo, who is also a lecturer in accountancy at the Kumasi Polytechnic, observed that politicians, for far too long, have been playing politics with economic indicators, and believes it is about time they tackled the major problems associated with it.
“That is where I believe Dr. Bawumia will score marks, because if you watch him talk, he speaks like a technocrat, someone who has a firm grip of what he is talking about, and if only he can put these into action, then Ghana will be better off,” he asserted.
He noted that the global economic trend demands that technocrats, rather than politicians, steer the affairs of governance, and mentioned countries like Greece and Senegal among others, where technocrats have been given the opportunity to run the economy.
Mr. Boafo further asserted that though he was on a political platform, Dr. Bawumia was very practical and honest with the issues raised, occasionally, mixing it with a political sense of humor.
“He spoke for the teeming Ghanaian unemployed; he touched on sensitive and genuine matters bothering the country’s economy, and I think we must commend him for that,” Mr. Boafo observed, and indicated that if such honesty would accompany the NPP leader, then it would go a long way to help the country, in the event that his party wins the elections.
On his demeanour, the Kumasi Polytechnic lecturer believes Dr. Bawumia has reformed tremendously, stressing, “He is not the Bawumia we knew in 2008; he has now developed a political sense of humor; he now knows politics and its intricacies.”

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