Member of Parliament for Sagnarigu, Attah Issah, has criticised former Vice President Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia for suggesting that the National Democratic Congress (NDC) had no role in the recent appreciation of the Ghanaian cedi.
In an exclusive interview on Channel One Newsroom on Tuesday, May 20, the MP emphasised that the cedi’s performance cannot be credited to a single administration or policy.
He explained that several factors influence the cedi’s value, including interventions by the central bank, fiscal discipline by the government, and global economic trends.
According to him, the New Patriotic Party (NPP) tends to claim credit only when policies yield positive outcomes.
“The issue of politicising this discussion, I don’t think it was even worth it because whatever economic policies were generated, it resulted in an exchange rate of GHC16, so whether NPP contributed to it or not, the outcome of the 2024 election was enough.
“The NPP is only interested in taking responsibility when the situation looks good, but once it is not good, they never take responsibility. I am not surprised that Dr Mahamudu Bawumia said credit should be given to the NPP,” he said.
However, he acknowledged the contribution of the previous NDC administration, particularly its role in implementing a debt restructuring programme, which he believes has indirectly supported the recent appreciation of the cedi.
“To be fair, you cannot discount the impact of the debt restructuring programme that was undertaken by the previous government in terms of fulfilling the IMF conditionalities.
“Ghana, after the extended creditors’ negotiations, was saved almost $4 billion. So, if we were to pay $4 billion of our national currency, there would have been some pressure on the cedi,” he added.
Mahama urges NDPC to consolidate dev’t plan