Vice President and flagbearer of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Dr Mahamudu Bawumia, has described the National Democratic Congress (NDC)’s flagbearer as a leader who cannot solve the problems of the country.
According to him, this was evident in the entire political career of John Mahama, when he failed to implement a single policy to lessen the suffering of the citizenry.
Speaking at his maiden ‘Bawumia Host The Media’ engagement, held at the Movenpick Ambassador Hotel in Accra, Dr Bawumia indicated that, unlike the opposition leader, he engineered and ensured the successful implementation of 33 policies as Vice President.
“I have a solid record of accomplishment as Vice President. At least, I can point to 33 separate policy initiatives. 33, that I have championed or initiated as Vice President. 33, yet my opponent can not point to one, just one single policy initiative as a Vice President. He can’t.
“So if you are serious about the problems of this country, at least you must think of something. You can not just be eating and going to sleep every day. You must think of something, you must be policy-oriented”, he said.
He noted that John Mahama, who is his biggest contender in the upcoming elections, cannot design problem-solving policies.
“I mean, we are put into public office to solve problems. You can not be there as MP, as Minister, as Vice President, as President and you don’t have a policy initiative, not one.
“You need your leaders to be problem-solvers. So you must have thought through problems and come out with initiatives to solve the problems. I can talk about 33 different initiatives, my opponent can not talk about one, and he wants to be given the mandate”, he stressed.
Dr Bawumia said he introduced the Gold for Oil (G4O) policy in 2022 to address Ghana’s declining foreign currency reserves and the increasing demand for dollars by oil importers.
He outlined the Zipline Drone delivery service system which had been nurtured into the biggest medical drone delivery service across the world, leading to an increase in access to medical consumables.
He also made peculiar mention of the Agenda 111 projects which seek to expand healthcare infrastructure to provide jobs and intensify healthcare delivery towards achieving universal health coverage.
Dr. Bawumia emphasized his digitisation agenda which saw the introduction of among others the digital address system, Ghana Card, mobile money interoperability, E-Phamecy Platform, and Ghana.Gov, a one-stop portal for local government agencies.
He said that digitising operations at the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Authority, Electricity Company of Ghana, and Passport office has curbed corruption and increased revenue.
He added that he aims to introduce a blockchain government system where all operations of the government and data are tamper-proof to curb corruption in the public sector.
“What we want to do moving forward with fighting corruption is my proposal in the manifesto which is that our government must become a blockchain government. A blockchain government means that we operate on the basis that all transactions within the government space are locked and can not be changed.
“They should be traceable even if it is [after] 100 years, they should all be traceable. So you can not change anything within the government space”, he said.
He said his digitalization agenda was aimed at positioning the country to tap into the potentials of the fourth revolution to build a resilient and robust economy.
The Zongo Development Fund, expansion of the National Health Insurance Scheme to cover sickle cell, kidney dialysis and cervical cancer patients, and the One Constituency One Ambulance are among the numerous initiatives introduced by the Vice President.
Dr Bawumia further touted the achievements of the government, indicating that it surpasses what Mr Mahama and the NDC achieved when in power.
He stressed that the Akufo-Addo government constructed roads, three times more than what the NDC did; adding that the education sector saw significant infrastructure improvement.
He said that the fishing sector witnessed the addition of two new fishing harbours, while some 180 astroturf have been constructed across the country to enhance sports development.
Source: Fred Quame Asare
