The running mate of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) flagbearer for the 2024 general election, Dr. Matthew Opoku Prempeh (NAPO), has revealed that Vice President Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia did not control Ghana’s economy during President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo’s second term.
According to NAPO, Bawumia’s limited role in fiscal management was the reason he shifted his focus to digitalisation reforms as a strategy to support and stabilise the economy.
Speaking in an interview on Asempa FM, monitored by Ghanapoliticsonline.com, NAPO said the Vice President concentrated on digital transformation because economic decision-making was not under his authority.
“In the second term, the economy was not in Bawumia’s hands. That is why he focused on digitalisation to help improve efficiency and growth,” he stated.
NAPO explained that the digitalisation agenda was designed to close revenue leakages, widen the tax net, strengthen public service delivery and reduce corruption.
He cited initiatives such as the Ghana Card integration, mobile money interoperability, digital property addressing system, paperless port operations and online public services as key interventions meant to support economic recovery.
The NPP running mate stressed that these reforms laid the foundation for long-term economic resilience, even though Ghana later faced severe fiscal challenges.
He further argued that it would be unfair to hold Bawumia responsible for the country’s economic downturn when the Vice President was not directly managing fiscal policy.
NAPO maintained that the digitalisation drive was Bawumia’s way of contributing meaningfully to economic growth within the limits of his constitutional role.
