Storm over counter Bawumia lecture

Economic Advisor at the Presidency, Dr. Nii Moi Thompson says he is unaware of a "counter-Bawumia" lecture announced by Information and Media Relations Minister, Mr. Mahama Ayariga.

In a statement issued in Accra and copied to The Finder, Dr. Nii Moi described Mr. Ayariga’s comment as “tongue in cheek” during news analysis programme Newsfile on Joy FM.

Dr. Nii Moi’s statement comes as a surprise because he was on the same programme with Mr. Ayariga when the comment was made.

“The government has no such plans and I most certainly have no intention - none whatsoever - in headlining one," Dr. Thompson said.

"The man [Dr. Bawumia] spoke, we responded – simple as that. Economic management is about solving problems; it is not a gladiator sport," he added.

“Our solutions should be our most effective counter-lecture,” he stated.

Dr. Nii Moi accused Joy FM of publishing a story on the counter-Bawumia-lecture statement of Mr. Ayariga to open up the government to ridicule, and given the insults that have followed since the publication of that story, it appears the reporter has achieved that objective pretty well.

He said he found the programme host, Samson Lardy Ayenini, to be very knowledgeable and capable, and that the discussions "were so rich in substance that a good editor would have extracted three or four very good development-oriented stories that enrich the public discourse.”

On Newsfile on Saturday, the Information and Media Relations Minister said he was surprised by the media blitz given to Dr. Bawumia, who was recently appointed by Central University as a visiting professor of Economics.

"I was very surprised by what the media did. They forced all of us, they moved all of us to Central University (College)...Nobody gave us an option to listen to other alternative issues," Mr. Ayariga noted.

He said he found the issues raised by Dr. Bawumia as "not critical" because important personalities, including President John Mahama and the Minister of Finance, Seth Terkper, have said the same things already.

Mr. Ayariga, therefore, wants the same media attention devoted to Dr. Bawumia to be given to the President's Economic Advisor, Dr. Nii Moi Thompson, at a lecture to counter the issues raised by the former deputy Governor of the Bank of Ghana.

"I will organise a similar lecture at the same time for Dr. Nii Moi Thompson and I expect all of you, Joy FM and Adom FM, to follow him at that same prime time," he demanded.

He was, however, short on details of when the counter-lecture will be held.