A number of Parliamentarians of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) say they are not impressed with Vice President Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia's attempt to extricate himself from the current economic difficulties the country is facing. 

The disapproval comes after Dr Bawumia's nationwide address on Wednesday during which he pleaded with Ghanaians to elect him President in the upcoming elections to enable him implement his vision of better governing the country.

In the lecture, he outlined his goals for the country as a flagbearer for the New Patriotic Party, stating “as Vice-President, I am like a driver’s mate. But if, by the Grace of God, you make me President, I will be in the driver's seat with constitutionally mandated authority to pursue my vision and my priorities," Dr Bawumia said.

But, according to the Minority members, the Vice President’s attempt to act as an innocent bystander in the government makes him a dishonest person the country cannot trust. 

Speaking to JoyNews’ Kwaku Asante, Ibrahim Murtala Muhammed (Tamale Central MP) said that President Akufo-Addo prior to his election touted Dr Bawumia’s knowledge of the economy and insisted that he was chosen as Vice President to manage the economy.

He added that the Vice President subsequently on occasions praised the works of the Economic Management Team of which he is the chairperson and called it the best.

“So Dr Bawumia cannot be seeking to insulate himself from the mess that is created. The fact that Dr. Bawumia is distancing himself from the management of the economy is an admission that he has failed. Because why? One would expect him to be saying that this is what we have done. This has been our achievement. So the fact that he is trying to distance himself is telling everybody that we are admitting that we have failed,” said Murtala.

Similarly, MP for Tamale North, Alhassan Suhuyini believes that it is “shameful” for the Vice President to take credit for good things in this government but distance himself from the failures.

"Not once has he ever denied the claims that he is an integral part of the policy decisions of this government. And so for him to shamelessly come out at this time to project himself as one who is not to be held responsible for some of the failures of this government, but one deserving of credit for some of the things that are seemingly positive of this government, can only be a mark of, excuse my language, a dishonest person,’ he noted.

Mr Suhuyini warned that if care is not taken, Dr Bawumia’s policies might contradict the NPP’s manifesto for the 2024 general elections, adding that Dr Bawumia's attempt to absolve himself of any blame is a trick people should not fall for.

Additionally, the Minority Leader in parliament, Dr Cassiel Ato Forson said that Dr Bawumia’s claim that the Economic Management Team is only advisory is not only disgraceful but shows the Vice President has no credibility.

He noted that the lecture on Wednesday shows Dr Bawumia has the powers to rid the public of any tax should he wish to do so, not only as the chairman of the Economic Management Team but as a member of cabinet.

“So all of these economic policies that President Akufo-Addo has implemented since 2017 were actually supervised by our Vice President. His position has further been strengthened because he's now the leader of the NPP, the governing NPP. So if he means well, he has whatever it takes to bring a bill to parliament to get these taxes removed now,” he noted.