Dr. Bawumia: Lives of Ghanaians Have Improved Compared to Mahama’s Era

Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia, the New Patriotic Party’s (NPP) flagbearer, has commended the achievements of the Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo administration, highlighting significant improvements in the lives of Ghanaians compared to the tenure of former President John Dramani Mahama.

Bawumia underscored the strides made by the current government in enhancing living standards despite recent economic challenges.

“There is no dispute about it. Why do I say so? Because the data says so! You would recall that during the previous government, we endured four years of power outages (which we called ‘dumsor’), which collapsed many businesses and increased unemployment.

“There was no chalk in schools, and teacher and nursing training allowances were cancelled. There was a near-collapse of the National Health Insurance Scheme and the National Ambulance Service. There were increase in electricity tariffs by an average of 50% annually. And many parents could not afford the fees to send their children to senior high school,” he stated.

He also listed policies that have purportedly resulted in more job creation than any previous administration.

“Since coming into office, we have implemented many policies to reduce the suffering of Ghanaians. The electricity tariffs over the last six years have seen the lowest increase (11%) for any seven-year period over the last 30 years!

“We also provided free electricity for lifeline users for a year and a 50% reduction in tariffs for all other consumers during COVID-19. We have restored the cancelled teacher and nursing training allowances. We have created more jobs than any other government,” he claimed.

Bawumia also noted the substantial rise in Ghana’s per capita income, from GH₵7,756 in 2016 to GH₵19,464 by the end of 2022, reflecting an increase from $1,978 to $2,353 in dollar terms.

The NPP flagbearer concluded the first phase of his nationwide campaign tour for the 2024 presidential election with visits to various regions, including the Eastern, Western, and Western North Regions.