By Issifu Seidu Kudus Gbeadese
(Youth Imam)
0244198031
I have read a release from the camp of Dr Duffour, bearing the above heading. It is regrettable to say the least.
The penchant of having to attack the superior records of President Mahama, and a regrettable tactics being adopted by Dr Duffour’s campaign team, seeking to slit the 8 years rule of the NDC into two different halves is unlike of the NDC. The NDC is one and so it is extremely needless to seek to divide it in this manner.
Presidents are paired with Vice Presidents, and this has been the convention throughout the history of Ghana’s democratic dispensation. It is not the practice for Presidents to be paired with Finance Ministers as the release sought to imply in respect of the 8 years of the NDC (ie 2009-2016).
The release sought to extol the academic laurels of Dr Duffour in the process of placing him above President Mahama. Strangely, the world of politics and for that matter governance has proven over time that those who brag about superior academic records have not necessarily translated same into solving practical problems of the world.
A practical case in point in Ghana today is the records of our current Vice President, Dr Mahmoud Bawumia. Prior to his election as Vice President and subsequent assumption of duty as the head of the “solid economic management team”, he was noted for bragging about his solid academic credentials, in economics, banking, finance and the like. The reality is that, such academic records especially in economics could not be translated into solving real economic problems of Ghana today. In fact, Dr Mahmoud Bawunia has supervised the worse economy since independence with worse indicators and worse living conditions of the generality of the people. This is a litmus test to disprove the claim that Dr Duffour’s academic qualifications in Mathematics and Physics automatically makes him a problem solver and therefore puts him far above his contenders.
Conversely, President Mahama is but a history and communication student—a field he’s proud of. As the head of the Economic Management Team under President Mills from 2009 to 2012, Ghana achieved a single digit inflation for well over 33 months—the longest and most stable inflation figure since the inception of the 4th Republic. Indeed, Ghana’s economy had the highest growth of 14 percent under Vice President Mahama as the head of the Economic Management Team. This is a clear testament that a student of economics cannot necessarily be an economic-problem-solving machine. To those who extol academic credentials without practical industrial input, should update their appreciation of today’s practical world.
President Mahama had an opportunity to serve this country which he did diligently. Since leaving office in 2016, he has had an opportunity to reflect and to take stock of the 8 years of the NDC, and all that is happening under the current Akufo-Addo-Bawumia government. When given the opportunity to serve this country again, he will be in a better position to govern to the delight of the Ghanaian people as he did before.
Screenshots of the Release from Dr Duffour’s Campaign:
