Dr. Jonathan Asante Otchere, a political analyst with the University of Cape Coast (UCC), has said the New Patriotic Party’s flag bearer’s call for a debate with the opposition is an act of desperateness on his part.
Dr. Asante Otchere’s comments come on the back of the Vice President’s call on the flag bearer of the NDC for a live debate on the economy.
In the lead up to the 2016 elections when Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia was in opposition, he asked John Mahama to debate the people in the communities, the various groups and the market women who were suffering because of the indicators at the time when a debate was called.
According to the analyst, the NPP flag bearer did not know that his words at the time will come and haunt him today, the reason he is saying “ideally that shouldn’t have been a good argument but he is suffering from his own cynicism in the past.”
Speaking on TV3’s New Day Friday, July 12, 2024, Dr. Asante Otchere noted that Dr. Bawumia’s “response to that particular request was borne out of his own cynicism and he is paying for it because today you are at the lowest of your political career and you want to ride on the popularity of Mr. Mahama to gain some kind of currency and credibility and these cynical responses he gave in the past have come back to haunt him.”
He explains that the NPP flag bearer did not know that the media was going to retrieve the response he gave to the then President, John Dramani Mahama, and play it back to him.
Background
Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia, whilst addressing thousands of his supporters Wednesday, July 10, 2024, at Bunkpurugu in the North East Region, said he was eagerly waiting for a debate with Mahama, but was less optimistic of its possibility because Mahama is “running away.”
“I am looking forward to a debate with John Mahama on the economy, on the country on the governance,” Bawumia said.
“But I am afraid that he is running away from a debate. His people say he doesn’t want to debate. I have never heard an opposition leader who doesn’t want to debate. But he knows I will expose the emptiness of his policies,” the NPP flag bearer added.
Dr. Bawumia added that former President Mahama and his team are unable to explain their 24-hour economy to Ghanaians, adding that he is avoiding a debate because he will be exposed.
“He says he has a 24-hour economy which he cannot explain. It is as empty as an empty barrel. He cannot explain it and none of his people can explain it. They say they will be exporting lions and elephants,” he added.
According to the Vice President, “when we meet mano a mano, we can debate, and the country will see where our policies lie and that is where we should go. We should give the country an opportunity to listen to us. If he chooses not to debate, I’ll continue to sell my policies.”
Ghana has had both presidential and vice presidential debates in past years just as in other advanced democracies.
Many, including civil society groups, have called for a debate between the two leading candidates for the contest, for Ghanaians to listen to their policies and vision for the country.
The spokesperson for the Bawumia campaign, Dennis Miracles Aboagye, had earlier called for a debate between the two candidates. But persons in the NDC are telling the former President not to debate since it will be a waste of time.
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