Hon Albert Abongo MP for Bongo constituency, Upper East has criticized Dr. Bawumia’s economic statements and conclusions and challenged him on the source of his figures and data. The Honorable member was speaking on the Radio Gold morning show in reaction to the latest rating of Ghana’s economy by the international reputable rating agency Moody.
Ghana’s economy has earned praise from the rating agency with a B3 rating, changing the outlook from negative to stable. This prompted many government officials and functionaries to launch an attack on Dr. Bawumia the running mate of the Presidential Candidate of NPP the biggest opposition party in Ghana.
Dr. Bawumia some few weeks ago at the National Theatre painted a very gloomy picture of the economy which didn’t go down well with many people who immediately went public to denounce his lectures.
Notable among those who criticized and called his lecture into question included IMANI, a policy think tank which is known to have sympathies for the NPP and Media Foundation For West Africa a body set up to promote and defend the right to freedom of expression.
In their critic IMANI said: “The policy think tank believes that while some of the points raised are legitimate, others are exaggerations and twists to achieve a political goal.
It said Dr Bawumia blended solid policy and hardcore politics “that is often difficult to untangle by objective Ghanaians seeking to rely on the technocratic experience of the former senior Bank of Ghana official to make sense of Ghana’s economic situation in an unbiased, non-partisan manner.”
The MFWA in their press statement said: ” Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia made several claims whiles delivering a lecture on Ghana’s economy, eight of which were fact-checked. Out of these eight claims, only four were found to be either entirely true or mostly true. One claim was found to be a half-truth while 3 claims were found to be either completely false or mostly false”
It is to be put on record that Dr. Bawumia has delivered many lectures on the economy and most of the time had incurred government displeasure, but with his lectures the disagreement has not been from government alone but civil society groups as well
The ratings may give a booster to the government claim that Dr. Bawumia was just doing politics with his lectures.
Finance Minister Seth Terkper is optimistic recent revision of Ghana’s Long Term Bond Ratings from negative to stable by international Credit Ratings Agency, Moody’s will influence Ghana’s economic outlook.
CW Reporter.
For more on the Moody Ratings:
http://www.graphic.com.gh/news/general-news/moody-s-upgrades-ghana-s-economy-it-s-now-b3.html
