Vice President Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia’s presentation on the state of the economy, according to John Abdulai Jinapor, Member of Parliament for the Yapei-Kusawgu constituency in the Savanna Region, was full of falsehood and misconceptions that failed to point out the current economic hardship facing the citizenry.
Last Thursday, the Vice President delivered a speech at a Training and Orientation Conference hosted by the ruling New Patriotic Party’s (NPP) Tertiary Students Confederacy (TESCON) in the Central Region.
The Vice President’s two-hour speech focused primarily on the country’s current macroeconomic statistics and the government’s actions thus far.
According to Jinapor, Dr. Bawumia’s speech was more of a political campaign message than an honest assessment of Ghana’s economic situation.
“What we’re talking about is simple: we’re in a bad situation; fuel prices have increased by 70% this year.” Today, our fuel is the most costly among 33 African countries, transportation rates have increased by 15%, and there are indications that another increase may be implemented next week. It will be reflected in the budget if you pay $17 billion. Please show us where such provisions for the 17 billion surplus capacity specified by the Vice President have been made. Bawumia’s actions were completely false. He didn’t say anything about facts.
“When we talk about excess capacity, we’re talking about power that we haven’t used but are still paying for. If he’s claiming that we didn’t consume 17 billion worth of power but instead paid for it, the ECG 2020 audited statement indicates that they purchased 9.37 billion worth of power. The same sum, 6.8 billion, was paid by the government the previous year, according to their financial statement. We’re talking about power consumption, but because to ECG’s terrible financial situation, their losses have increased by 30%, so when they buy and sell electricity, they can’t pay, so the Finance Minister steps in and pays for that amount, and Dr. Bawumia gives a press conference and claims it’s extra capacity.
“That is unworthy of a Vice President.” It’s a pity that the Vice President has descended to that level. You’re just paying for the electricity you use, not for extra capacity. “This so-called extra capacity is nothing more than power that we’ve consumed,” he told Newsfile’s Samson Lardy Anyenini.