The vice presidential candidate of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia has deplored the politics of insults and mudslinging in the country. He said what Ghana needs is a new type of leadership committed to debating and competing with ideas. Dr. Bawumia, speaking on Joy FM’s current affairs programme, Front Page, said politicians need to send out messages that are targeted at solving the basic problems of the people. He condemned politics of lies and vile propaganda saying that the “the fact that someone is an NDC does not make him/her a less human being or a less Ghanaian”. “I have a lot of friends in the NDC, in the CPP and everywhere, they are all very good people,” he noted, adding that the idea of always trying to bring someone down does not help in the development of the country. He described the NDC vice presidential candidate, Mr. John Mahama as “a fine gentleman,” adding that “we grew up together, our fathers were friends and our families are close”. For the soft spoken technocrat turned politician, the contributions of all governments must be acknowledged and appreciated. He said all governments including the NDC contributed their quota to the development of the country. Reacting to newspaper reports that money got missing under his care at the Bank of Ghana, he said the story was sad and laughable, "a complete fabrication". The Deputy Governor of the Bank of Ghana said “if you understand the procedure involved in dealing with currency at the bank,” you will not make such baseless and unfounded allegations against me. According to him, the matter reported in the media was properly investigated and no adverse findings were made against anybody. He said for mischievous and malicious political reasons, the matter was thrown in the public domain following his nomination as the NPP vice presidential candidate. He expressed regret that such things make many good people not want to go into politics. Story by Malik Abass Daabu