‘This is not the time for theatre comedy and IT jocular pranks’ – Jinapor jabs Bawumia

The Ranking Member of Parliament’s Mines and Energy Committee, John Jinapor has lashed out at the Vice President, Dr Mahamudu Bawumia over his lecture on Ghana’s return to the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

The Veep at the engagement held at the Accra Business School said part of Ghana’s current economic challenges can be blamed on “the previous government.”

In a speech at the Accra Business School on Thursday, July 14, 2022, the vice president listed what he described as the “quadruple challenges” the current government faces – excess capacity payments, banking sector crisis, Covid-19 and the Russia-Ukraine war.

Explaining further, Dr Bawumia attributed excess capacity payments and the banking sector crisis to mismanagement by the Mahama government.

“Covid-19 expenditures alone were not the reason for the large increase in Ghana’s debt stock by the end of 2021,” he said.

“If you take out the fiscal impact of this quadruple whammy, Ghana will not be going to the IMF for support because our fiscal, debt and balance of payments outlook would be sustainable. Of the four factors, two (COVID-19 and the Russia-Ukraine war) were external and the other two (the banking sector clean-up and the excess capacity payments) were the result of policies of the previous government,” Dr Bawumia added.

But addressing members of the Parliamentary Press Corps on Friday, July 15, 2022, Mr Jinapor questioned why the Vice president will choose to engage in comedy at a time the country is going through difficult moments.

“You will agree that we are not in normal times. Indeed, we are in very perilous moments; we are in uncharted waters; there are difficult moments ahead and so, what we expect from the head of the Economic Management Team is some modicum of respect, honesty, integrity and above all seriousness when it comes to governance and the issue of the economy. This is not the time for theatre comedy, and obviously not the time for IT jocular pranks. We are tired of the monotonous blame game on former President Mahama,” the Yapei Kusawgu MP said.

“Not long ago the same Vice-President held a major press conference and announced that he and his government had arrested the dollar, put in prison and handed the keys to the IGP. Not long after that comedy, the Cedi depreciated by almost 13% in 2019 (that was before Covid 19 pandemic).”

“In April this year, the same Dr Bawumia, told the whole nation that the Economic Management Team under his chairmanship had put in place adequate measures to prevent the nation from going for an IMF programme. Today, Ghana is back to the IMF not even in good shape, but in a dire economic situation. Is this not a spite on the Vice President’s assurance?” he quizzed.

Mr Jinapor also called on the Vice President to treat his office as a serious one and desist from engaging in propaganda and falsehoods.

“The Vice-President, Dr Mahmoud Bawumia must concentrate on his core duties as head of the economic team and allow the Minister of Information to perform his duties as prescribed by convention. From all indications, the Vice-President president has clearly lost focus and therefore making his office look irrelevant while demeaning the standards expected of a Vice-President.”