The Host of Good Morning Ghana on Metro TV, Dr Randy Abbey, has challenged the Flagbearer of the NPP, Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia, to clarify his role as the chair of the Economic Management Team (EMT), and whether he gave advice that was not taken by the cabinet.
Speaking on his show, Dr Abbey said that he wanted to know if Dr Bawumia, in his lecture on Thursday, February 7, 2024, suggested that he gave advice that was contrary to what the public was seeing, or that he gave one that was not taken by the cabinet.
He asked also if Bawumia was absorbing himself from the current economic crisis.
“The question I am asking is that, given the membership of the EMT, they are all cabinet ministers. The vice president, who chairs the EMT, is also the number two on the cabinet because he is the deputy chair on the team. Now, with his explanation, is it to suggest that ‘we gave advice contrary to what you are seeing, or we gave advice that was not taken? So, understand that my role is just to advise and I not responsible for the outcomes and what you think is wrong. I gave advice, I don’t implement and therefore if you have a problem with the economy, don’t blame me?’” he asked.
The Director of Communications of the NPP, Richard Ahiagbah, who was also on the panel, jumped to the defence of the vice president and said that Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia was not trying to say that he was not part of the EMT’s decisions, but that he was trying to correct the perception that the EMT had the final say on how to run the economy.
“I don’t think the vice president sought to say that. What he said was correct the perception that the decision on how to run the economy belongs to the EMT. It is factually an incorrect position to hold and that was what he sought to correct so we know how the system works,” he also stated.
Referencing an old footage of Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia introducing the ‘solid’ Economic Management Team of the NPP, Dr Abbey questioned Bawumia’s reason for doing that, knowing that the EMT is not in the position to implement policies.
“The two videos I played, what do they mean, especially the one the vice president himself speaks about the Economic Management Team? You see the portfolios he mentioned and the position they hold, and the accolades he showered on them. When he finished, he ridiculed the NDC’s economic management team, what was that about?” he asked.
Explaining further, Richard Ahiagbah noted that the outcomes of EMT’s advice or recommendations is subservient to the decision of the cabinet.
“As a subcommittee of cabinet, their preoccupation is to provide guidance and advice for cabinet decisions. So, it is not as if that as a committee, their positions are sacrosanct and so the advice and guidance they provide, relative to the economy, other people around the table and the entire cabinet would have to synthesise that position and take a decision. So, the outcome of a cabinet decision is cabinets and not any individual who constitutes the any committee of cabinet doesn’t take ownership of it. The advisory role they provide is to bring to the table a set of ideas for cabinet to consider. Whatever comes out as a decision is cabinets position,” he added.
