Vice President Mahamudu Bawumia has acknowledged that Ghanaians are still suffering under the Akufo-Addo administration but argues that the current level of suffering is somewhat mitigated by the government’s various interventions, unlike what people experienced under the Mahama administration.

During the 2016 elections, Dr Bawumia, then in opposition, spoke out on campaign platforms about how Ghanaians were suffering under the Mahama government.

Referring to those remarks during a media interaction on Sunday, 25 August 2024, at the Movenpick Hotel, Dr Bawumia, who is now the flagbearer of the governing New Patriotic Party, recalled: “I remember very well in my statement: ‘Teachers are suffering, doctors are suffering, nurses are suffering, journalists are suffering, and everybody is suffering in 2016,’ which was the case at that time. But I think we have made significant progress since 2016.”

He added, “At the end of the day, you reduce suffering broadly by creating jobs so that people have something to do, or by introducing social interventions to alleviate the problems and hardships that exist.”

“So, you need to look at what we have done. We have created at least 2.1 million jobs, and per capita income in cedi terms has nearly tripled. GDP has increased, and per capita income has also risen. We have kept all public sector workers employed.”

He pointed out that despite global shocks, Ghana held its own and did not fall into crisis.

“We didn’t lay anyone off during COVID-19. We have kept the lights on for eight years; we suffered so much from ‘dumsor’. Nursing and teacher trainees were suffering, but we have restored their allowances. We have done quite a bit to reduce the suffering of people.”

He admitted, “Yes, the suffering is there, but we have implemented many social interventions to alleviate it. It is not gone, but we can point to things that have been done to reduce the suffering of our people.”