How Isaac Adongo challenged Dr. Bawumia's shift from economy to digitization

Ranking Member of the Finance Committee of Parliament and MP for Bolgatanga Central, Isaac Adongo, has criticized the economic management of Ghana, attributing the downturn to a shift in focus by the Vice President, Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia.

According to him, despite being initially hailed as an economic saviour, Dr. Bawumia has pivoted to digitization initiatives, leaving the economy in a state that Adongo finds unsatisfactory.

In a televised discussion on Onua TV on March 23, 2024, Adongo drew an analogy between Bawumia and a teacher who expected to excel in teaching Science, instead teaches History and Geography, leading to student failures.

This metaphor was used to illustrate Adongo's view that Dr. Bawumia has strayed from his primary responsibility of economic oversight.

“You know Wesley Girls is one of the best schools in the country and when it comes to Science, they are so good. So we were told there is this tried and tested Science teacher who is so good that when we send him to Wesley Girls’ SHS, the students will perform wonderfully.

"...Then we send this teacher and year after year, the students were failing whenever the results come. So the Education Director secretly went to hide and peeped through the window to see what he was teaching, only to realise the teacher rather teaches the kids History and Geography instead of Science. So Bawumia is now teaching Geography and History and after failing in Science, he now wants to align himself with anything he sees around and messes up," he explained.

“You were brought to come and fix a broken economy but you’re now doing digitalisation,” Isaac Adongo lamented.

Adongo also addressed the media's role in perpetuating scandals, such as the SADA guinea fowl controversy, which he claims was fabricated to discredit former President John Dramani Mahama and the NDC.

He urged the media to investigate such stories rather than accepting them at face value.

“The guinea fowl story was concocted by someone to disgrace Mahama, but you journalists believed without making any probe. It is the same way you believed the donkeys carrying fertilizer story. You didn’t ask the Minister of Agriculture why he lied about the donkey,” he said.

Looking ahead, Adongo expressed optimism about the NDC's economic plans under John Mahama, highlighting a proposed 24-hour economy as a transformative strategy for Ghana's future.

Meanwhile, the former president and 2024 presidential candidate for the NDC John Dramani Mahama, has signaled that he will implement a comprehensive, Integrated Digital Transformation Program if elected.

He has also promised to establish a Fintech Fund and Digital Innovation Fund to unlock the payment and settlement digitalisation agenda.

This, Mr. Mahama argues, will drive digital innovation for job creation, transparency, efficiency and fight against corruption.

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