IEA Veep debate: The Governor vs The Deputy Governor

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IEA Veep debate: The Governor vs The Deputy Governor

05 November 2012

After receiving a “beating” at the first Presidential debate organized by the Institute of Economic Affairs (IEA), the New Statesman is reliably informed that the President of the Republic, who is also the 2012 Presidential Candidate of the ruling National Democratic Congress, plans to skip the 2nd IEA debate.

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Ghanaians all over the country are eagerly awaiting tomorrow’s vice Presidential Debate which will pit a former governor of the Bank of Ghana, Kwesi Amissah Arthur, against a former deputy governor of the Bank, Dr Mahamudu Bawumia, in what has been described as a “must see debate” by political commentators.

After the “thrashing” dished out to President Mahama by the Presidential Candidate of the New Patriotic Party, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, the pressure is now on vice President and NDC running mate, Kwesi Amissah Arthur, to redeem the image of his boss and the NDC, with barely 33 days to the December election.

The New Statesman has learnt of reports within the camp of the NDC, that President Mahama is not particularly enthused with his running mate’s campaign efforts thus far with complaints of Amissah Arthur “not pulling his weight” as compared to Dr Bawumia, widespread within the ruling party.

After his impressive outing in the 2008 vice Presidential debate, where Dr Mahamudu Bawumia, came out on top also against John Mahama, the NPP running mate has the chance, once again, to show Ghanaians what they have been missing, in terms of prudent and sound economic management, these last four years.

The areas to be addressed in the vice Presidential debate, IEA sources tell the New Statesman, will very be much like the subject areas addressed in the 1st Presidential debate held last week Tuesday, 30th October.

The New Statesman has learnt that the economy is one of the areas which will figure prominently in the debate with the areas to be discussed including National development Plan, Job Creation and Unemployment, Economic Growth and National Debt.

On good governance the candidates will discuss, among others, peace and security, rule of law as well as character and leadership.

Another area which received attention during the 1st Presidential debate and which will be addressed in the vice Presidential debate is the social sector, with focus on ICT, education, health, water, food security, housing, electricity and power, and private sector development.

Barring any time constraints the candidates will delve into the fourth thematic area which is natural resource management with oil and gas, and mining being some of the areas of focus of the candidates.

Dr Bawumia holds a Ph.D. in Economics with his areas of specialization including Macroeconomics, International Economics, Development Economics and Monetary Policy. Dr Amissah-Arthur on the other hand holds an M.Sc in Economics from 1980.

Dr. Bawumia returned to Ghana in 2000 to work as an economist at the Bank of Ghana. He rose through the ranks from Senior Economist to Head of Department, and subsequently as Special Assistant to the Governor of the Bank. President J.A. Kufuor appointed Dr. Bawumia as Deputy Governor of the Bank of Ghana in June 2006, aged 42.

As the deputy Governor in charge of financial stability, he successfully maintained oversight over the soundness of the banking sector. He was instrumental in the opening up of the banking sector to competition, resulting in the increase in the availability of credit to the private sector from 12.5% of GDP in 2001 to 28.5% of GDP in 2008. Dr Bawumia also led Bank of Ghana’s technical negotiation team with the World Bank and IMF that successfully ended Ghana’s dependence on IMF assistance, allowing Ghana to pursue more independent policies.

Dr Bawumia was responsible for drafting the financial sector component of the Millennium Challenge Account Compact which resulted in $547 million worth of projects for Ghana. He was also responsible for the strategy for accessing the international capital markets with a debut $750 million dollars, which was four times oversubscribed. He was part of the team that designed and implemented the successful redenomination of the cedi which has been hailed globally, and played a key role in the design and implementation of the e-zwich common platform for all banks, savings and loans companies and rural banks. More recently, with the African Development Bank, he has played a leading role in helping Zimbabwe to re-engage with the international community.

By Fiifi Arhin

Source: thestatesmanonline.com