Dr Bawumia ‘blue-ticking’ Ghanaians on the exchange rate is the epitome of Ghana’s political gimmicks and hypocrisy

The date is somewhere in September 2016. Dr Mahamudu Bawumia is not Ghana’s vice-president yet.

Gently rocking his black suit, a white cuffed shirt and a shiny red tie, the former Deputy Governor of the Bank of Ghana was ready to dissect the state of Ghana’s economy with one of his lectures.

This was a man who had become a nation’s favourite for brilliantly making it so easy to understand how Ghana was faring in terms of the complicated economic jargons most economists usually throw about.

In a consistent proclamation of his love for data, the man who had the accolades of Ghana’s ‘financial whiz kid’ went on to talk about everything the people wanted to hear, erupting cheers from the audience who paid keen attention.

For many Ghanaians, this was the saviour. The one who revealed all the potholes that needed fixing. The man with the plan. Hope that seemed far away seemed to be coming home because someone who actually knew the approach to fix Ghana’s economy was interested in trying to fix it. Not that he was going to be successful at all cost but at least, his demeanour proved, he would die trying. Not literally die but you understand.

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Here’s a background that needs knowing with respect to the topic under discussion.

The National Patriotic Party (NPP) had been in opposition for 8 years when Dr Mahamadu Bawumia was giving this lecture. Former president John Agyekum Kufuor had been president from the year 2000 to 2008, handed over to Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo who was beaten at the polls by the late John Atta Mills in the 2008 election.

John Dramani Mahama took over for the National Democratic Congress (NDC) after the late Mills’ death and beat Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo on his second trial, an election results that created so much buzz in the Supreme Court of Ghana.

In 2016, it was a win at all cost for the NPP. Not in a bad way. However, the biggest opposition party then, to the NDC had seen the petty politics was not working anymore. So, they found a new way; making a constructive and analytical review of the state of the nation.

The resource personnel was Dr Mahamudu Bawumia and Ghanaians loved him. For his lectures, for his consistency and taking the opportunity to address every single issue when the need be.

One of the easiest lessons to understand in all of Dr Bawumia’s lectures is one on the ‘Exchange Rate’. It is one of the most common indicators available to all Ghanaians for references when it comes to the state of the economy.

If you’ve ever been in school, some of the memorable lessons are the ones the lecturer executes with interesting stories attached to it and Dr Bawumia was no different. 

There is this story of how people went about in the villages telling grandmothers, grandfathers and illiterates that the rise of the dollar or pound was a good thing because it meant more money for you when family and friends send you money from abroad. 

“Rather than facing up to and dealing with this collapsed currency, the NDC propaganda in the villages is that Ghanaians should be happy because they are getting more cedis for the dollars and the pounds sterling their relatives send them from abroad,” Dr’ Bawumia said addressing the Young Executive Forum in London, UK.

Ghana’s vice-president would go on to give one of the best quotable quotes there’s ever been when it comes to the exchange rate in the country.

He says “If you try to manage the economy with propaganda, the exchange rate will ultimately expose you.”

Another version of the quote will also go like: “You can engage in all the propaganda you want but if the fundamentals are weak, the exchange rate will expose you.”

These statements have been in the minds of Ghanaians for four years.

A quick search on Google on Thursday, February 28, 2019, at 11:00GMT showed 1 US dollar is to 5 cedis 48 pesewas while 1 pound sterling is to 7 cedis 29 pesewas.

The worrying rate at which the cedi is depreciating against major currencies has ignited a conversation with a host of worried Ghanaians expressing their displeasure on social media.

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One of the reasons why the exchange rate is the easiest economic indicator for most Ghanaians is that it is the most relatable indicator and Ghana’s vice president Dr Bawumia explained it four years ago.

“Imagine that a worker earned GH¢1,000 at the beginning of 2009; this was worth some US$840. Today the same GH¢1,000 is worth some US$227.

“For any worker, the depreciation has been devastating for the cost of living as utility, petroleum and other prices of goods and services have shot up. The cost of doing business has also increased significantly,” Ghana’s vice president said at the Young Executive Forum in 2015.

Here’s a quick analysis of why Ghanaians are talking.

The same worker who receives GH¢1,000 now has US$182.49. With the cost of living increasing and the cost of doing business increasing significantly, US$182.49 is not good enough for what is a 'very good salary' in Ghana with the year 2019 as a reference.

With the unemployment rate in Ghana still high, it is very valid to assume that people work for three to five years without any increase in salary despite the cost of living going up on the regular. This results from the fact that there are capable hands willing to take the role for the same amount or less so employers take advantage of employees who can’t just quit.

One of the best solutions to this is will be Ghana cedi being as stable as possible to aid the never increasing salaries of most Ghanaians.

Ghana’s exchange rate effects on businessmen and consumers as a whole is an evident problem starring everyone in the eye. Import duty that is calculated in dollars to be paid in its cedi equivalent is killing people who can no longer keep mute. The effect is felt everywhere.

 “First of all, I'd like to assure all Ghanaians that this lecture as has been the case for all my lectures will be based on an objective analysis of the data that we have in the economy. Ultimately, the data and the facts will speak for themselves,” Dr Bawumia said in one of his many economic lectures.

Just like Dr Mahamudu Bawumia had previously indicated that his many lectures are based on data and facts, the facts here are glaring to all Ghanaians.

And it is very disrespectful to the entire nation that politicians choose to talk when they want to talk for their own gains.

Granted, Ghana’s president His Excellency Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has made comments on the rate of decline of the Ghana cedi saying he is ‘upset’, but that does not cut it.

“I am extremely upset and anxious about it, but I want to assure you that all efforts are being made to arrest the decline and restore the cedi to stability,” President Akufo-Addo told people gathered at the inauguration of the Fujian Sentuo Ceramics Company at Kpone in the Greater Accra Region of Ghana.

With the ruling New Patriotic Party having held two official press conferences to address issues relating to the opposing National Democratic Congress (shooting incident and leaked tape) to help in their political gimmicks, their ‘unseeing’ attitude towards the cry for clarification and assurances concerning the exchange rate is unacceptable.

Vice president Dr Mahamudu Bawumia took every opportunity he had when the NPP was in opposition to address issues concerning the exchange rate and talk how Ghana’s economic situation could improve.

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Having been in power for over 24 months, his current lack of voice and ‘blue-ticking’ Ghanaians on the topic of the exchange rate is a sign of betrayal to the people who believed so much in his vision to make the economy work, or at least give them regular updates on its fixing like he used.

But just has been the case of Ghana politics, the facts and data seem to always indicate that politicians will only talk when it favours them. They will only give you an insight into what could have been only for you to give them the power.

Once the power is gained, what seems so much like the truth they wanted you to know is now a hidden lie they dare not talk about.

Dear Dr Mahamudu Bawumia, all that Ghanaians are asking for is for you to be the old you. The economy guru. The financial whiz kid of our time. Just the Bawumia everyone fell in love with.

For now, you ‘blue-ticking’ Ghanaians on the exchange rate is the epitome of Ghana’s political gimmicks and hypocrisy