By Issifu Seidu Kudus Gbeadese
The raging silent feud between the stubborn Ghanaian Economy and its Vice President who’s suppose to be its manager, mirrors the pre-session of a boxing bout between two uncompromising braggarts. The pre-session which is largely characterized by appetizing commentary, naked bragging and tales of mouthwatering records of the boxers, will leave you to a wow and create and awe out of nothing. And in most cases, the one who will eventually be defeated comes as the leading braggart and one with the embellished credentials. This pre-session and the eventual outcome of the bout reflect the relationship between Dr Bawumia in pre and post 2016. The Ghanaian economy is indeed a stubborn, inconsiderate boxer who doesn’t respect its manager.
Is it not curious that the ever vociferous economic messiah has all of a sudden metamorphosed into a theoretical IT lecturer? So that even on such a big platform at the NPP’s national delegates congress in Kumasi, our Vice President was tight-lipped and couldn’t make a statement about the economy. And as usual, he has mastered the amplification of insignificant minors even in the IT sector. While the world is turning over on high IT discoveries, our Vice President is floating on the surface of google maps with his hallucination about Ghana’s IT advancements over the USA and the UK.
If anything angers those who expected so much from Dr Bawunia in terms of economic management then, it is his seeming silence at the time the economy is raping the haves and defiling the have nots. I’m sure he has learnt his lessons after his first 100 days assessment when he attempted making a mockery of the high spirited dollar and only got bruised at his lips. Who ever thought that the economy could do this to a former deputy governor who knew where all the money was and so, didn’t need to borrow to develop the country?
Today, as the NPP is gathered in their stronghold, Kumasi, to hypothetically do a stock-taking of their stewardship, Dr Mahmoud Bawunia’s economy has not only borrowed to a chocking end, but has willingly welcome hardships as a twin and made it feel comfortable in raping the hell out of the poor taxpayer. Today, the Dr Bawumia’s dream economy which was supposed to be moved from taxation to production cannot survive without an e-levy. Today, the Dr Bawumia’s modeled economy where capital investment were to take precedent over consumption has to now borrow to pay wages and salaries while basic infrastructure suffer a colossal neglect.
The people of Ghana have been denied the legitimate opportunity of listening to the seasonal economic lectures of their eloquent Vice President. In recent times when he’s given a platform, like this one at their National Delegates Congress, no matter the temptation, Vice President Bawumia is always careful like a violent man who has to respect the dictates of nature by not striking hard in an attempt to kill a mosquito which settles on his testicles.
The economic lectures are dead with their unrealistic models and juicy proposed alternatives. The mention of exchange rates by morning show host is now a treasonable offense; investors who genuinely assess Ghana’s Debt to GPD as a determiner in making their investment decisions have been described as conspirators of regime change; agents of Civil Society Organizations are practically barred from citing the fiscal deficit in their annual assessment of the health of the Ghanaian Economy; and the poor taxpayer is declared a witch if she ever complain of inflation and cost of living. This is what the death of the uncensored economic lectures in pre-2016 came with.
The unsolicited praise singing of “we have the men” and the incompetent hymn are now subjects of footnote in Dr Bawumia’s script. The foregoing narrative now is why the Ghanaian must pay taxes and not about how nuisance and counterproductive taxes are. It is about what Mahama would have done or not be able to do if he were the President of Ghana under Covid and not about how resilient and self-reliant the economy can be when the unforeseen shocks like Covid strike. The Covid 19 pandemic has now become the stubborn orphan who’s whipped for any misfortune that befall a reckless family.
Perhaps, the people of Ghana have to collectively press criminal charges against this stubborn economy and its babies (ie borrowing, exchange rate, inflation, fiscal deficit, etc) for gang-raping our Vice President into a perpetual death and dumb who can neither hear the waves of the economic hardships nor speak about the disrespect of the economic indices to his Economic Management Team. Like it were in the era of slave trade—to secure the unwavering loyalty and submission of the slave, the slave master usually adopted derogatory tactics to whittle down or strip off totally the identity and potentials of the slaves. This is exactly what the Ghanaian economy has done to our eloquent Vice President—stripping him off his economic identity and making him feel he doesn’t have the capacity to discuss economic issues any longer.
Indeed, the unwilling economy has raped Vice President, Dr Mahmoud Bawunia into an unrepentant dumb. And like a victim of rape and/or defilement, she mostly likely become allergic to discussions around sex and men in general.
19th December, 2021.
