Former Vice President Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia has welcomed President John Mahama’s recent admission that the Covid-19 pandemic severely affected Ghana’s economy, describing it as “by the grace of God.”
During the 2024 election campaign, the economic effects of the pandemic became a major political debate. The then-ruling New Patriotic Party (NPP) argued that Covid-19 disrupted global markets, slashed revenues, and fueled rising living costs. However, the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC), led by Mahama, rejected these claims, insisting the economic challenges were caused by government mismanagement, not the pandemic.
Speaking at a side event during the 80th United Nations General Assembly in New York, President Mahama conceded that the pandemic had indeed taken a heavy toll, stating that “the Covid-19 pandemic erased two decades of poverty reduction in less than two years.”
Reacting during his campaign tour of the Eastern Region, Dr. Bawumia said Mahama’s acknowledgment confirms what the NPP had maintained all along. “From 2022, when the pandemic struck, prices of goods went up, and during the 2024 election we explained that the cost of living was driven by Covid-19 and the Russia-Ukraine war. But Mahama and the NDC claimed we were lying,” he noted.
“They said Covid-19 had no impact and blamed it all on economic mismanagement. Yet now, Mahama himself admits that the pandemic undermined years of poverty reduction. He knew the truth but refused to say it during the campaign. By God’s grace, he has finally spoken the truth for everyone to see,” Dr. Bawumia added.
