Vice President Dr Mahamudu Bawumia has lashed out at former President John Dramani Mahama and the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) over their march in honour of the late former President Jerry John Rawlings.
He described the main opposition NDC as a party of hypocrites and dishonest people who denigrated their founder when he was alive but are marching for his values of “probity and accountability” after his death.
Dr Bawumia exposed NDC’s hypocrisy when he addressed supporters of the governing New Patriotic Party (NPP) at the auditorium of the Yendi Senior High School in Yendi, Northern Region, on Saturday.
The 2020 Vice Presidential Candidate of the NPP spoke to the party faithful after commissioning a newly constructed dormitory and 6–unit-storey classroom facility as part his three-day tour of the northern region.
He said it was “dishonest” for the NDC to profess the values of Mr Rawlings now that he is no more.
“Today, after the death of the former President, may his soul rest in peace, Jerry John Rawlings, they are now there saying they are marching in his honour for probity and accountability.
“Where was the probity and accountability when they were chopping the SADA money?
“They should be marching for the bus branding scandal, they should be marching for the Airbus scandal, that is the probity and accountability Ghanaians want to see.
“Their march should be named hypocrisy and dishonesty”, Dr Bawumia stated.
“When Jerry John Rawlings was alive, they [NDC] were not marching for probity and accountability; they were rather disrespecting him, they were calling him ‘barking dog’, ‘the Volta god’, isn’t that the case?
“They were disrespecting him, they got babies with sharp teeth to attack him; isn’t that the case? “Today, now that he’s dead, they are saying they are marching for probity and accountability,” Dr Bawumia reiterated.
The main opposition NDC is marching ahead of the December 7 general election to supposedly uphold the values of “probity and accountability”, advocated by their founder Rawlings.
However, Vice Bawumia has questioned why Mr. Mahama and the NDC would now march in honour of the man they disrespected and denigrated.
He asked NDC to march to retrieve all the monies it gave out to individuals through fraudulent means.
Former President Rawlings died on November 12, 2020 and as part of activities to commemorate his passing, the NDC has been organising a series of activities such as vigils and marches in the late president’s memory.
The party’s General Secretary, Mr Johnson Asiedu Nketiah, at a point, even accused President Nana Akufo-Addo and the government of attempting to “hijack” the funeral of the former head of state.
Free SHS policy
Vice President Bawumia noted that thanks to President Nana Akufo-Addo, about 1.2 Ghanaian children are enjoying free senior high education including students at Yendi SHS and Dagbon State SHS all in the Yendi municipality, This, he pointed, makes the NPP 2020 presidential candidate a trustworthy person for delivering on his promises.
He emphasized that former President Mahama never believed in free SHS and therefore cannot be trusted with the policy in his comeback.
“John Mahama said it was 419, it was not possible and that we were lying to the people. Today, he says we should give Ghana back to him, can we trust him with free SHS?”, Vice President Bawumia asked.
He reiterated the government’s plan to connect free Wi-Fi across all the senior high schools in the country to make teaching and learning more convenient, efficient and effective.
Dr Bawumia used the occasion to congratulate this year’s WASSCE graduates for producing the best results since 2015.
He also thanked the teaching staff of all SHS schools for the adequate preparation the students had before the exams.
According to Dr Bawumia, the future is bright for every child but added, “We have to stay with Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo and the NPP because they have the vision to do whatever they’re doing.”
