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.

Prof. Agyemang-Duah and Dr.Mahamudu Bawumia

“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