Dr. Randy Abbey, the host of Good Morning Ghana on Metro TV, has sought to understand the reasoning behind Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia’s calls for a debate in the 2024 elections when he rejected same ahead of the 2016 elections.
In an edition of the show, Dr. Abbey confronted Kofi Tonto, who is an aide to the flagbearer of the NPP, on the change in stance from Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia.
Dr. Randy Abbey posits that when John Mahama made the same demand for a debate in 2016, Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia referred to the famous 170 questions on the economy as the great starting point for a debate and that he would want to know what has changed now for Dr. Bawumia to challenge Mahama for a debate.
“In 2016, when then-President Mahama was calling for a debate, Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia said that President Mahama should go and debate with the suffering Ghanaians. He was in a place up north and asked him to come to the place and debate with the people.
“He asked him to debate those who are suffering and mentioned things. He asked him to go debate those issues and also answer the 170 questions he posed and not come ask for a debate, so what has changed now? Why is he asking for a debate?” he said.
Kofi Tonto, however, explained that Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia’s call for a debate is premised on his resolve to react to some claims made by John Mahama relative to the performance of the NPP government.
According to him, Dr. Bawumia believes that a debate would be a great platform for him and Mahama to interrogate the various issues that will shape the decisions of Ghanaians in the 2024 elections.
It will be recalled that Dr. Bawumia on July 11 challenged John Mahama to a live debate on the economy.
Addressing thousands of his supporters in Bunkpurugu, North East Region, Dr. Bawumia said he was eagerly awaiting a debate with Mahama, but he was less optimistic that it would happen because Mahama is “running away.”
“I am looking forward to a debate with John Mahama on the economy, on the country, on governance,” Dr. Bawumia said.
“But I am afraid that he is running away from a debate. His people say he doesn’t want to debate. I have never heard an opposition leader who doesn’t want to debate. But he knows I will expose the emptiness of his policies.”
