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'This Election Is About The Economy, Stupid!' - Mahama Responds To Bawumia's 50 Questions

Former President and flagbearer of the opposition National Democratic Congress, John Dramani Mahama has labeled the Vice President, Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia as "stupid" for asking him 50 questions in response to his (Mahama) five questions.

The former President had asked the Vice President to answer his 5 questions which centered on the current economic challenges, the foreign exchange rates, Ghana’s rising national debt, inflation and Dr. Bawumia’s key focus on digitalization as a solution to the economic crisis.

Mahama's Questions

“He (Bawumia) used to give lectures every month about how to run an economy, and how to fix the economy. He posed 170 questions to my Vice President Amissah Arthur. He should go and answer the 170 questions himself. Indeed, he shouldn’t answer 170 questions. He should answer only three questions. 

"Question 1, he should come and answer. Why is the exchange rate GH¢17 to the dollar? Question 2, why has Ghana’s debt risen from GH¢120 billion to GH¢767 billion in eight years? He should come and answer. Question 3, why did inflation rise to where it is at 54% under your administration for eight years?

“Then let me add two more. Question 4, why did you borrow GH¢42 billion from the Bank of Ghana? He should come and answer those questions. We don’t need 170 questions. With the 170, if he wants, he can answer them himself. But Ghanaians are asking him four questions.

“He should come and answer those four questions and explain to Ghanaians why we are where we are. The last question is why has he run away from the economy to digitalisation? He used to be talking a lot about the economy. Today he can’t mention the economy, it’s not in his vocabulary.

“Anytime he opens his mouth, digitalisation. Come and talk about the economy. That’s question five. Five questions. Tell him you should come and answer them”, he stated while speaking to NDC supporters at Tatale in the Northern Region on Monday, October 28.

Bawumia's Response

Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia, on the other hand, reiterated his call for a debate to set the record straight.

Bawumia responded with 50 questions, insisting that Mahama boldly meets him man-to-man to asnwer their questions.

"I have just read questions posed to me by former President Mahama. I would have thought he would be man enough to face me in a one-on-one debate for the Ghanaian public to assess our respective policies, achievements and visions. He should not hide behind these flimsy questions to avoid a debate. Come for a debate and I can ask the moderators to ask me these five flimsy questions", he replied.

He proceeded with some questions to Mr. Mahama, asking "Can you name any broad-based social intervention policy that you implemented in Ghana as President? Why did you run advertisements against free SHS? If you think your economic management was so good how come we experienced more than four years of Dumsor under your government? Why did the banking system almost collapse under your government? Why did you cancel teacher training allowances? Why did you cancel nursing training allowances?"

Mahama's Clapback 

Addressing a rally at Savelugu in the Northern Region on Wednesday (Oct 30, 2024), Mr Mahama called out the Vice President saying he is evading the issues by responding with 50 questions, likening it to a kindergarten kid reciting a rhyme. 

Tackling the Vice President's response, Mahama employed the words "stupid" and "useless" to describe Bawumia's approach to his five questions.

Though deriving the word from former President of America, Bill Clinton, the NDC presidential candidate minced no words as he stated; "This election is about the economy, stupid!"

He said; "We used to learn what they call nursery rhymes and that one you just have to learn by heart; even when you are sleeping, you should be able to repeat it...I woke up this morning and I saw 50 questions to me. It looks like our Vice President has just learned those things in the 50 questions the way we used to learn 'Baah, baah, black sheep', 'Humpty-dumpty sat on the wall', because I asked 5 simple questions on the economy. That's all; simple questions that Ghanaians want u to answer. You go and respond with how many compost plants did you build; how many this did you build? That is not what the issue is in Ghana today."

He continued; "In 1992, there was an election in America. It was between Bill Clinton and George Bush Snr. At that time, the American economy was in recession, the way the Ghanaian economy is in crisis today and people were talking about immigration, talking about useless things. You know what the Clinton people said; it is about the economy, stupid."

"Today, I'm repeating those words; this election is about the economy, stupid! It is not about those other useless things about who built how many compost plants; answer the five simple questions", Mr. Mahama concluded.