Former Vice President Dr Mahamudu Bawumia has said that President John Dramani Mahama’s recent admission in New York—that the Covid-19 pandemic had a negative impact on Ghana’s economy—shows that he knew the truth during the 2024 election campaign but chose not to say it.
The effect of the global pandemic, which hit the world between 2020 and 2022, became a key issue during Ghana’s 2024 election campaign, with the two main political parties taking opposing positions.
The then-ruling NPP argued that the pandemic disrupted markets and revenue streams, causing a sharp rise in the cost of living.
The then opposition NDC, led by President Mahama, however, rejected this claim, insisting that Covid-19 had not negatively affected Ghana’s economy and attributing the hardships to government mismanagement.
However, in New York, at a side event of the 80th UN General Assembly, President Mahama conceded that Covid-19 had indeed dealt a devastating blow to Ghana’s economy.
“The Covid-19 pandemic erased two decades of poverty reduction in less than two years,” President Mahama said at the event.
Responding to this development during his campaign tour of the Eastern Region, Dr Bawumia said the President was fully aware of the truth during the 2024 election campaign.
Mahama acknowledges COVID-19’s impact on Ghana’s economy at UN Assembly
“From 2022, when the impact of Covid-19 hit the country’s economy, prices of goods went up. And during the 2024 election, we said that the cost of living had been largely impacted by Covid-19 and the Russia-Ukraine war. When we said that, President Mahama and the NDC claimed we were lying,” Dr Bawumia stated.
“They said Covid-19 had no impact on the economy. They said it was rather economic mismanagement. But I have read that President Mahama, in New York, admitted that Covid-19 really impacted economies. He said a lot of our poverty reduction efforts over many years have been thwarted by Covid-19.”
Dr Bawumia concluded, “The President knew the truth but he didn’t say it during the campaign. But by the grace of God, he has now admitted the truth.”
Also, watch some videos from the NPP’s protest below:
