Governance expert and former United Nations Advisor on Governance, Prof Baffour Agyeman-Duah, has revealed that the NPP 2024 presidential candidate, Dr Mahamudu Bawumia, has a narrow chance of breaking the eight following President Akufo-Addo’s State of the Nation Address (SONA 2024).
Prof. Agyeman-Duah maintained that it would be very difficult for Dr Bawumia to dissociate himself from the current economic situation in the country.
Prof. Agyemang-Duah’s comment came to light following President Akufo-Addo’s SoNA delivered in Parliament on Tuesday, February 27, wherein the latter claimed that all government appointees and officials only offer advice to the President.
“It would be an unwise President that would pretend to have all the answers, and refuse the advice of his officials, but the fact remains that the President holds the executive power,” said President Akufo-Addo.
The statement by the President only seems to buttress the assertion of Dr. Bawumia during his 7th February’s Vision lecture at the UPSA where he had emphasized that the Economic Management Team’s role is only advisory.
Prof Agyeman-Duah had a dissenting view.
Speaking on TV3’s Ghana Tonight monitored by Peacefmonline.com, Prof. Agyemang Duah opined it will take a lot of convincing on the part of Vice President Bawumia to break the eight.
He said, “This is a very interesting situation”.
“His [President Akufo-Addo] vice president, with whom he has ruled the country for eight years, is seeking to be president and the public and himself know that there are so many policies of his government that have not been satisfying to the public and of course, he works together with the vice president,” he stressed.
According to Prof Agyeman-Duah, for Dr Bawumia to succeed in breaking the ‘eight’ for the NPP, he would need to devise different strategies.
“But seeking the presidency, the vice president has to find a clever way to distance himself from some of the failed policies,” adding that it is a “dilemma for any vice president seeking the office of the president while the incumbent is still in office”.
The Governance Expert further stated that, “I think [Dr] Bawumia is in a very tight situation because, on one hand, he cannot publicly denounce the policies of the president of which he was part, and at the same time he is aware that certain policies have not been very good and he cannot carry that to the campaign trail”.
The situation, according to him, is “a difficulty both of them are facing”, adding that it has become a puzzle for the president and the vice president.
Source: Kobina Darlington/peacefmonline.com
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It looks narrow only for the embittered narrow minded.
Prof, don’t forget the fact that the Npp voters and the independents will have a hard look at the alternative. The North is very key in this elections. The traditional twi speaking Npp voters will feel guilty if they don’t come out in numbers to vote for Bawumia and if Bawumia continues to have the support of the Chiefs in the North then his chances is wide open for the upcoming general elections. The dynamics are different for each election.
You see, some personalities astonishingly fall in love with believing that Akufo-Addo's government has performed poorly because that is what the opposition NDC and some dishonest intellectuals want us to believe. The NPP-administration does not run away from the current hardship. I strongly beg to differ in that, policywise, the NPP administration has initiated laudable policies: 1D1F, planting for food, promotion of tourism, and good education, only to mention a few. Indeed, it takes time for certain projects to mature and impact the lives of people. Furthermore, it has remarkably performed well in terms of infrastructure development. I would have liked the good professor to acknowledge the fact that the vice president, Bawumia, has no locus in the presidency if he does not have his own vision and would do certain things differently. Breaking the 8 will impart a transformational multi-party democracy in terms of policy-based continuity, improvement, and maturity. This will help do away with baseless, vile propaganda, lies, and defamation of political opponents. Strong opposition in terms of better alternative policies based on political party ideologies is key to the dispensation of multi-party democracy.
Learn from other prof in other jurisdictions who speaks with facts and data. No research data for us to analyze and draw our own conclusions? Some Ghanaians educated elites hmmm. Shaping minds of future Ghanaians? Yoo we hear you!
Prof we hear you, the Vice will do his best, NPP will do its best, but Ghanaians will decide, if they chose ndc, it means Ghanaians support stealing and ***barred word*** of our coffers. it is a simple decision between a ***barred word*** and a man of integrity. let Ghanaians decide
People like this 'Prof' are bitter that now the poor among the poor also have some of their children going to SHS in Prempeh, Achimota, Presec, Waygehe etc that were only reserved for the children and grandchildren of the likes of 'Prof'! They don't want the policy to continue because GO1 & NDC will collapse FREE SHS!
Ghana is suffering from leadership crisis because majority of the politicians are very corrupt and liars.
Prof, that is your view and it is not realistic!
Well said. Fact is that Ghanaians have a very soft spot for the NPP and i personally have the conviction that the NPP is closer to 'breaking the 8' than the NPP because of the goodwill the party enjoys from Ghanaians thanks to the efforts of former president Kufuor. Unfortunately these particular crop of NPP appointees and the appointing authority has taken the Ghanaian people for granted thus making the task ahead of Bawumia very difficult. Bawumia will be fighing from two fronts 1. How to convince the ordinary NPP supporter to have hope in the party and continue to make sacrifices again like we saw in pre-2017 having been neglected and forgotten all these years. 2. Defending the attacks from the NDC, this time round they will be doing the attacking. its not about having a message, it is about whether the people will listen, they will definitely hear, but will they listen. John Mahama will tell you he had a message in 2016, Ghanaians heard him alright but we did not listen thus the embarrassing defeat he suffered in 2016. It is same Ghanaians who are going to vote in 2024
Thanks Prof, It is possible DMB will break the 8