Cross-section of Ghanaians expresses opinion on IEA debate

Cross-section of Ghanaians have expressed their views on the performance of the four vice-presidential candidates with representation in parliament at the debate organized by the Institute of Economic Affairs (IEA), a think tank in Takoradi.

Some residents who spoke to the Ghana News Agency in Takoradi said the candidates were not proposing pragmatic solutions to the questions posed to them by the moderators.

Some were of the view that most of the answers provided by the candidates were theoretical and not in tune with the aspirations of the people.

A lecturer at the Takoradi Polytechnic, Mr Winfred Adjardjah, said the four running-mates were just trying desperately to impress the audience and not necessarily providing practical solutions to socio-economic problems confronting the nation.

He, however, commended Dr Mahamudu Bawumia of the New Patriotic Party and Madam Helen Sanorita Matrevi of the Peoples National Convention for their calmness in answering the questions.

Mr Adjardjah indicated that the debate would not change the minds of most voters since most of them had already made up their minds who they would vote for in the December 7 elections.

He said most voters are core supporters of the various political parties and therefore they don’t care much about how a candidate answers questions.

Mr Kofi Tawiah, a second-hand cloth dealer, suggested that the IEA should modify the debate so that local language would be used in future to explain issues since majority of Ghanaians understand issues better when spoken in vernacular.

He suggested that the debate should be held in the afternoon so that people could listen to it on radio or watch proceedings on television instead of the evening.

Mr Tawiah observed that some of the candidates were jittery at the initial stages of the debate and asked them to work on their confidence level whenever they are speaking in public since the position they require calls for such qualities.

The debate afforded the candidates including Vice President Kwesi Bekoe Amissah-Arthur and Madam Cherita Sarpong Kumankuma of the Convention Peoples Party the avenue to express their knowledge on how their political parties would manage the economy as well as national resources when voted into power.