National Democratic Congress (NDC) communications team member Lawyer Hamza Suhuyini has challenged former Vice President Dr Mahamudu Bawumia to account for his economic leadership record, arguing that his failure to translate policies into practical results undermines his current criticisms of the government.
Speaking on Metro TV’s Good Morning Ghana, Suhuyini acknowledged Bawumia’s role in developing economic policies but said policy formulation alone was insufficient without effective implementation.
“It is not enough to formulate policies. The problem of this country, even Dr Mahamudu Bawumia made that point in opposition between 2015 and 2016, was that the nation was not bereft of policies. What the problem was was practicality and leadership,” he said.
Suhuyini cited the Gold Board as an example of how policy implementation can influence economic outcomes, arguing that the current government restructured the Precious Minerals Marketing Company (PMMC) into the Gold Board and positioned it to contribute to economic stability.
He credited Bawumia with his role in the policy discussions surrounding gold but questioned why he did not achieve similar practical results when he had the opportunity to lead the economy.
“You cannot write your success story about the stability of the cedi without gold and the role Dr Mahamudu Bawumia played in relation to that. True and beautiful, his credit for it,” he said.
“But where were those ideas and the ability to actually give practicality in terms of our economic turnaround? When Dr Mahamudu Bawumia introduced the gold-for-oil and gold-for-reserve policies, where were these practical steps?”
Suhuyini’s comments come amid criticism of the government’s economic management from the former vice president, who headed Ghana’s Economic Management Team under the previous New Patriotic Party administration.
He maintained that the NDC would not claim to have reduced the prices of all commodities but insisted that some government policies had begun to affect the prices of goods and services.
“The NDC will not behave like Dr Mahamudu Bawumia and create a rosy picture where the system is not all that rosy,” he said.
