Dr. Michael Kpessa Whyte, a member of the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) party has advised Vice President Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia to stop promising without delivering. He said the Vice President’s credibility is gradually waning over such actions.
“…These constant promises are chipping away any credibility that he may have left…On social media you will see people line up the timelines [for promises] he’s announced. If I were in his shoes and I’m seeing these things I will cringe with embarrassment. I think he should hasten slowly and wait; when they deliver the thing then he announces that they’ve delivered it,” Kpessa Whyte said.
Dr. Bawumia has on a number of occasions given deadlines for projects which were subsequently extended.
Some of the instances include the paperless ports system, digital address system, mobile money interoperability, National Identification cards, and the new promise to use drones to supply blood and drugs.
Dr. Bawumia had promised that government would begin supplying blood and drugs via drone by September 2018 but he made a U-turn on Thursday saying the project will not take off in 2019.
Dr. Kpessa Whyte, who is also a former Executive Director for the National Service Scheme believes the drone project is a “misplaced priority”, and advised Dr. Bawumia to be mindful of promises he makes.
“I think that the Vice President may mean well but the folks advising him ought to be serious, that is the country’s number two person. I also want to believe that it is not anybody advising him. He himself actually need to sit down and say I am the vice president, my words are data and critical information, and I need to be mindful of what I say. He needs to make the transition from being a running mate to actually a Vice President.”
“When in government stop promising. People assess you based on what you do. You don’t go telling people that you would do something and think that people would think you are delivering. Giving the kind of campaign he waged that led to the change of government, one would have expected that by now, delivery is what we would be seeing and less talk. But these constant promises are chipping away any credibility that he may have left,” he added.
