Forensic Pathologist and Senior Lecturer, Professor Paul Osei Sampene has described as desperate and hollow Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia’s promise to slash government expenditure by some GHc30 billion should he become president.
In an interview with the media, Prof Sampene insisted, “Dr. Bawumia’s promise of cutting down expenditure by Ghc30 billion is out of desperation, coming from someone in government, and it’s an insult to our intelligence.”
He asked Ghanaians to be circumspect listening to these promises which he predicts will continue to come from political actors in an electioneering year.
Professor Sampene highlighted Dr. Bawumia’s previous commitments, including promises for a flat tax rate and tax amnesty for businesses in 2025, emphasizing that these recycled promises lacked credibility and should be disregarded by Ghanaians.
“Ghanaians have heard some of his promises before, so there’s no need to listen to him; they should be ignored”, he noted.
Questioning Dr. Bawumia’s track record, Professor Sampene pointed out the unfulfilled economic expectations and the depreciation of the cedi under the current administration, as a blot on Dr. Bawumia’s credibility.
He wondered why Dr Bawumia still has the temerity to be making promises after Ghanaians gave him the opportunity to steer the economy as head of the country’s Economic Management Team.
“When the government came into office in 2017, Ghanaians were told that Dr. Bawumia was the economic messiah. As a result, he was made the head of the Economic Management Team (EMT). The free fall of the cedi against major currencies, implies that Dr. Bawumia has failed to deliver on the economic promises made during his tenure as head of the EMT,” he contended.
He challenged the narrative of the cedi’s “arrest” by Dr. Bawumia, pointing out discrepancies in the analogy and suggesting that the economic situation requires a more realistic approach.
“Dr. Bawumia has told Ghanaians that he arrested the cedi and handed over the keys to the IGP. I am aware that when someone is arrested and sent to prison, the keys are handed over to the Director of Prisons, not the IGP. Therefore, I believe that if the keys were given to the IGP, then the cedi was arrested a few times and has now been granted bail”, he stated.
Professor Sampene urged Ghanaians to be discerning and not be swayed by Dr. Bawumia’s rhetoric, calling for a change in leadership and emphasizing the need for a new direction for the country beyond the current NPP administration.
