A senior political science lecturer at the University of Ghana, Dr. Kobby Mensah, has criticized Vice President Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia for the platform he chose to address matters relating to the economy.

Speaking on Citi TV’s ‘The Big Issue’ programme over the weekend, Dr. Kobby Mensah said the Vice President should have chosen a platform which was more nationalistic in nature.

In his view, the New Patriotic Party youth wing platform only served as propaganda machinery to whip up support for his candidature in the flagbearship race.

“That was a propaganda platform. The fact is that majority of Ghanaians want to hear from you, your perspective because we know [your position] on E-levy, we know your position on the economy.

“We know what you have said in the past about the economy and we know what we are experiencing now. So if you want to respond to those concerns or respond to those kind of issues then you don’t do it within a biased platform.

“What happened there was him trying to launch, so to speak, the competition. Obviously, he’s actually facing internal competition going forward with their primaries.

“So one way or the other, it was to rekindle his base, to galvanize his base, to mobilize them to be seen as the best or fitting candidate for the party,” Dr. Kobby Mensah said.

Vice President, Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia, delivered a public lecture on April 7 amid the recent economic crunch.

In his address, he partly blamed the ravages of the Covid-19 pandemic and the recent Russia-Ukraine crisis for the economic woes of the country.

Despite this, he assured that the government was committed to implementing measures that will mitigate the impact of such external factors.

Dr. Bawumia also insisted that the country’s growth fundamentals were still strong and resilient amidst the challenges.

“Our growth fundamentals are strong and resilient. In the context of Sub-Saharan Africa, GDP growth in Ghana has consistently outpaced the growth in sub-Saharan Africa since 2017,” he said.

The opposition National Democratic Congress, NDC, have blamed the government for the economic hardship citizens are experiencing.

The party claims the government has mismanaged the economy and has further worsened it by its ballooning public sector debt.

Source: Ghanaweb