His duty as Vice President has been performed in a most stellar manner. Arguably, the most visible Vice President under the 4th Republic. For the first time, people are ignoring the President and asking for answers from the Vice President. The Veep is not merely the President’s handbag or PA.
I agree there should be that level of accountability but I also say that level of accountability is more appropriate if sought from Dr Bawumia on his own mandate. Whether we like it or not, this is not his mandate. He has not made that argument but I make it for him.
Even that aside, Dr Bawumia hasn’t avoided taking responsibility for this government as a responsible member of the Cabinet ought to. We have seen supporters of aspirants, who are Cabinet members, making nonsense of collective cabinet responsibility. If we can’t trust them to stick to defending the cabinet they belong to, what can we trust them to defend? Our ideology as a Party or our national interest? They won’t stay and fight. Of course, they won’t They would insist it is their right and then resign if they don’t get it. Resign. Whether as member or as Candidate or even as President; they would just resign.
And we would be compelled to move the National House of Chiefs to beg for their return. We don’t have that time. We don’t have time to also turn our elections into an endorsement of family trees or a fulfilment of some ancestral covenant. We don’t have the time to make this about “who came first”.
Ghanaians want solutions. We want fresh energy in government. We want a return to ideology. We want someone who can, while departing from the worst of this government build on its best. Someone not shy to admit being a key part of this Government. That is Dr Bawumia. It is that simple.
