In a scathing rebuke, Hon. Japhet Festus Gbede, a communications team member of the Akatsi South Branch of the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) in the Volta Region, lambasted Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia, the Flagbearer of the ruling New Patriotic Party (NPP), for calling for a debate on the economy.
Speaking on Kaleawo FM’s newspaper review segment on Friday, Hon. Gbede, also the Assemblymember for Wuxor, Have, and Sremanu Electoral Area, accused Dr. Bawumia of “waffling” and attempting to shift attention from his mismanagement of the economy, which has plunged the country into an “economic curfew.”
“Bawumia’s call for a debate is a joke. He’s trying to distract us from his failures. His waffling attitude needs immediate psychiatric attention,” Hon. Gbede exclaimed. He continued, “How can you call for a debate when your administration has mismanaged the economy, led to skyrocketing inflation, and plunged the country into darkness? It’s like an arsonist calling for a discussion on fire safety.”
Hon. Gbede challenged Dr. Bawumia to first answer the 170 economic questions he had previously posed to the late Paa Kwesi Amissah Arthur for H.E. John Dramani Mahama to debate with him in the Ashanti Region, the stronghold of his incompetent NPP.
The NDC communicator’s outburst was in response to Dr. Bawumia’s recent call for a debate on the economy, seen by many as an attempt to deflect criticism from his administration’s handling of the economic crisis.
“I, Japhet Festus Gbede, declare that any debate between John Dramani Mahama and Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia, the self-proclaimed Economic Messiah, that does not yield tangible results in reducing import duties, curbing inflation, paying trainee allowances, stabilizing the Ghana Cedi against the CFA or dollar, addressing the alarmingly high unemployment rate, reducing the Hajj fare for Muslims, or providing relief to the business group is nothing short of a futile exercise. I will relinquish my membership in the NDC if John Dramani Mahama proceeds to engage in a debate with Dr. Bawumia, who is grappling with credibility issues and using his campaign platforms to apologize for his previous blatant and wicked lies,” Hon. Gbede stated.
“It’s time for NPP and its lazy flagbearer to show respect to ordinary Ghanaians. Dr. Bawumia’s call for a debate on the economy is unnecessary because the state of the economy is crystal clear. There’s no need to debate what’s already evident.
Under this administration, the cost of living has skyrocketed: a liter of petrol has gone from GHS3 to GHS16, a bowl of maize from GHS3 to GHS25, and the public debt stock has ballooned from GHS120bn to GHS685bn. Unemployment has risen from 8% to 15%, and the cedi has depreciated from GHS3.70 to GHS16 per dollar. About 7 million Ghanaians have been pushed into multidimensional poverty, and state institutions are being shared among government officials.
Ghanaians have given this administration the opportunity to fulfill their promises, but they have failed miserably. It’s not necessary to engage in a debate with someone who has failed to explain their failures. Only failures try to justify their mistakes. A successful person doesn’t need to explain their success.
Let’s not prolong the suffering of Ghanaians by accepting a baseless debate from someone who has failed to manage the economy, he said.
