Ex-president John Kufuor has admitted he and several others were initially not in favour of the selection of Dr. Mahamadu Bawumia as the vice –presidential candidate of the New Patriotic Party when he was selected in 2008. With hindsight the ex-president insists the selection of Bawumia by the flagbearer Nana Akufo-Addo, even with traces of trial and error, was the best decision taken. He described the pair as “partnership made from heaven". Mr Kufuor was chairing the Ferdinand Ayim Memorial lectures to be delivered by the vice –presidential candidate of the NPP and the ex-deputy Governor of the Bank of Ghana Dr. Mahamadu Bawumia. The ex-president said Ghanaians would not have appreciated the qualities of the pair if they had won power in 2008. He explained Ghana had just moved from a HIPC economy to a lower middle income economy for which reason many would underestimate the performance of the pair if they had won power. But with Ghanaians tasting what he described as a substandard performance by the NDC, Ghanaians would now appreciate the contributions of the pair when voted into power in 2012. “Since 2008, we carried water and have carried alcohol and we know which is heavier,” he said philosophically. The Memorial lecture was to provide a different perspective of the state of the economy and to provide a prognosis. Describing Dr Mahamadu Bawumia as the “master to treat macro economics,” Mr. Kufuor said there is no better person to treat the subject. He said the former deputy Bank of Ghana Governor had played a major role in the success story of the NPP, breaking into the Bank of Ghana as a researcher officer and within a short period of six years had risen to the position of a deputy governor. He was hopeful Dr Bawumia will provide a detailed analysis of the country's economy and with the pair winning the 2012 elections.