Election 2024: Reflections on Dr Bawumia’s engagement with the media
The Flag bearer of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) for the 2024 presidential elections, Dr Mahamudu Bawumia, engaged media persons last Sunday.
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The event lasted at least three hours, during which time he answered questions on several election-related issues. Answers to these questions not only help provide further insights into the Vice-President’s thinking on how the country can move its development forward but also allow voters to make informed decisions come December.
I watched the entire event and listened as he answered the questions posed to him. Here are my reflections on five of the many issues the Vice-President responded to.
Points of Reflection
A signature part of Dr Bawumnia’s work as Vice-President has been focused on leveraging technology in various aspects of the country’s governance architecture. His push has resulted in him being a champion for such initiatives as the Ghana card, mobile money interoperability, digital property address system, delivery of medical supplies using drones among others.
Technology is enabling not just innovations but offering opportunities for improving the effectiveness and efficiency of public service delivery. As the Vice-President argues, and rightly so, the benefits of a digital economy are many and Ghana can leapfrog to fully benefit.
Flat Tax
The Vice-President is proposing the idea of a flat income tax. This represents a major paradigm shift in the current configuration of our income tax regime. The Vice-President is correct in that a flat tax does simplify the tax code and makes it easier for citizens to calculate and meet their tax obligations.
However, it is also documented that a flat tax can be regressive. Usually, when specificity is demanded from candidates as they propose ideas during their political campaigns, the response is to wait for the implementation stage because that is when these proposed ideas are fully fleshed out.
There is a point of departure for me. For such a major departure from our income tax system, I sincerely believe more details such as the flat rate under consideration and its fiscal implications for the country’s budget will be helpful.
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My question is how does a flat tax change our assumptions and projections for the next three fiscal years as per Appendix 3A in the FY 2024 budget?
Fighting Corruption.
On the question of fighting corruption, Dr Bawumia emphasised the role of digitalisation as key to fighting corruption. Technology does remove or minimises the human element in transacting business with the government.
This has the potential effect of reducing the opportunities for corruption and ultimately the incidence of corruption. An important element of success to such initiatives is to guard against human manipulation where ways are devised to bypass these digitalised systems.
COCOBOD question
The Vice-President was asked to respond to suggestions that Ghana COCOBOD is on the brink of collapse. The Vice-President and rightly so, responded by not being aware of such a situation and, therefore, unable to comment.
The “eminent collapse” narrative, I believe, partly emanates from concerns about the recently announced move by COCOBOD not to seek a syndicated loan for the 2024-25 purchase season and whether it is an indication of a much bigger problem facing the cocoa regulator.
The COCOBOD question though is important because it is one of the State-Owned Enterprises (SOE) cited by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) as “imposing a direct fiscal cost to the central government and is a major source of fiscal risks” (See Ghana IMF Country Report 23/168, dated May 2023).
As per the report, the government promised to “publish a turnaround strategy, approved by Cabinet, for Cocobod by the end of June 2023.” If the strategy is not completed, it would have been important to get Dr Bawumia’s assurance on ensuring completion because of how critical it would be to COCOBOD and the cocoa sector.
The trust question
The issue of trust emerged within the context of promises made during the 2016 election and current realities. Ghanaians may not have experienced Dr Bawumia as President.
However, they have experienced a government he served in as Vice-President and head of the economic management team. My takeaway from the question was that, in addition to promoting his policies, he must find a way to convince voters to take their chances with him. In essence, he must convince them to trust him despite the current realities faced under this government.
What next?
John Mahama and the NDC have indicated they will not participate in any presidential debates. Nonetheless, he has already held three of these media engagements. Dr Bawumia held his first and gave indication to expect there will be additional ones.
In the absence of presidential debates, I find these media encounters, which are broadcast live, an acceptable alternative.
The writer is Project Director, Democracy Project.
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