Political analyst and governance commentator, Dr. Razak Kojo Opoku, has stated that former Finance Minister Ken Ofori-Atta and former Vice President Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia worked closely together in managing Ghana’s economy under President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo and must therefore share equal responsibility for both the successes and failures of the administration.
According to Dr. Opoku, the two men “thought together, planned together, and executed together” on economic matters throughout the Akufo-Addo government.
He stressed that they never abandoned each other in decision-making and should not be separated when assessing the government’s overall economic performance.
He revealed that President Akufo-Addo had enormous confidence in both Dr. Bawumia and Mr. Ofori-Atta, to the extent that he entrusted them with the preparation of national budgets and the day-to-day management of the economy.
However, Dr. Razak Kojo Opoku criticized what he described as a selective acceptance of responsibility by supporters of the former Vice President.
“Whenever inflation was around 7.14 percent, it was attributed to Bawumia’s ideas. But when inflation rose sharply to about 54 percent, suddenly it became the fault of Akufo-Addo, his family members, or external factors such as the Russia–Ukraine war,” he noted.
Similarly, Dr. Opoku observed that when the Ghana cedi appreciated against the US dollar, credit was quickly given to Dr. Bawumia, but when the currency depreciated, blame was shifted to President Akufo-Addo, Ken Ofori-Atta, or even former President John Dramani Mahama.
He further alleged that during periods of intense public criticism against the Economic Management Team, some Members of Parliament aligned with Dr. Bawumia organized press conferences calling for the removal of Ken Ofori-Atta, a move he said was aimed at shielding the former Vice President from blame.
Dr. Opoku contrasted this approach with the conduct of past vice presidents, noting that President Akufo-Addo himself never distanced himself from President John Agyekum Kufuor’s government by claiming credit for successes while blaming failures on Kufuor during his time as Attorney-General and Minister for Justice or at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
He also cited examples of previous vice Presidents who stood firmly with their Presidents through both good and difficult times.
“Aliu Mahama never did that to Kufuor. John Mahama never did that to Professor Mills. Mills never did that to Rawlings. And Paa Kwesi Amissah-Arthur never distanced himself from John Mahama, even during the most difficult economic moments of 2015–2016,” he emphasized.
Dr. Razak Kojo Opoku concluded that true leadership demands collective responsibility, arguing that constantly exonerating oneself from failures while claiming credit for successes is a clear departure from the principles of leadership.
“Leadership is about embracing both successes and failures. Always running away from collective failures is not leadership,” he stated.
