Mahama has been President before so it is my turn – Bawumia

The Vice President, Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia, says former President John Mahama has been addressing Ghanaians in a manner that suggests he has never been President of Ghana before.

In an address at Nalerigu in the North East Region on Monday [Nov 20, 2023], after he called on the Overlord of Mamprugu, following his election as flag bearer of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Dr. Bawumia said between himself and Mahama, one has been President before, and one has not, but the one who has been President before is speaking as though he has never been President before.

“Between the two of us, only one of us has been President before. That is John Mahama. He was President before. I have only been Vice President. I have not been President before but by the grace of God, you’ll make me President in 2025, in shaa Allah,” Dr. Bawumia said.

“Today, John Mahama is going around the country and he is speaking to people as if he has never been President before. When we were suffering under his Presidency, he told us he was a dead goat. A dead goat who had no feelings. Today he wants to resurrect and become a live goat.”

Dr. Bawumia added that after Mahama failed to provide solutions to many societal problems as President, he has resurfaced and is pretending to have a magic wand.

“Suddenly he has all the solutions to our problems. But when he was President, what solutions did he bring to Ghana? Did he solve the unemployment program? Did he create jobs? Did he tackle corruption? Did he issue Ghana cards? Did he build astro turfs? Did he abolish the three months pay policy for teachers? Did he establish Free SHS? He had no solutions to our problems.”

Dr. Bawumia added that even though he is yet to become President, he has proposed and spearheaded programs that have positively impacted the country.

“I have not yet become President but I, as a Vice President, have brought solutions to many of our problems,” he said.

“We did not have a unique identity, so I championed the government’s policy for the Ghana card. Today we have 17 million people issued with the Ghana card. Today, because of my proposal, we have no guarantor for student loans if you have a Ghana card. Today Ghana has a digital property address system because we had a problem of no functional address.”

He continued: “Before you could not transfer money between one teleco to another. But today, because of mobile money interoperability, you can transfer money Vodafone to MTN, to Airtel Tigo. Before, you could not transfer money between a bank account and a mobile account. Today you can do that. Today, you can renew the National Health Insurance on your mobile phone.”

“Today, you can sit at home and buy electricity credit on your mobile phone. Today we have brought Zipline drones and they are delivering medicines to 2700 hospitals and clinics across the country.”

“Today, we have one constituency, one ambulance. And another idea I brought is Agenda 111. We are building hospitals in districts without hospitals. Other ideas I brought are Zongo Development Fund and Gold for Oil policy. Today you can acquire a driver’s license and passport online. Today you can file your taxes online.”

Dr. Bawumia called for a comparison between himself and Mahama for a determination of who has the best ideas to transform the country.

“We have brought ideas to the table. Ideas are what transform a nation. And you can see as Vice President, what ideas I have brought to the table.”

“What ideas did John Mahama bring? Can you remember one idea John Mahama brought? Just one! Can you remember?