Minister of Information Mustapha Hamid Tuesday defended Vice President Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia following his “ballistic” reaction to criticism of the National Digital Addressing System by former President John Mahama.
Mahama addressing supporters of the NDC after the party’s latest Unity Walk in Cape Coast dismissed the addressing system being spearheaded by vice president Dr. Bawumia as “419” and someone must be held accountable for duping the state.
“…Otherwise, how can you launch a whopping GPS system that is freely available on our mobile phones and say it is the best national addressing system?… It’s such a pity. Why would you embarrass the president so much?” he quizzed to the admiration of the NDC gathering.
Angered by Mahama’s comments Dr. Bawumia Monday went haywire, scathingly attacking the former president describing as “clueless” his views apropos the digital addressing system.
“For former president Mahama to claim that Ghana’s NDPAS and the accompanying GhanaPostGPS app is a 419 scam demonstrates a complete lack of understanding of the system,” said Dr. Bawumia.
“We know a 419 scam when we see one and that unfortunately was the hallmark of the administration of former president Mahama. Ghanaians will find out more soon as people are held legally accountable. With the record that former president Mahama has in the area of governance, it is incredible that he would have the effrontery to talk about 419 scams,” he added.
But commenting on the development on Morning Starr Tuesday, November 7, Political Scientist Professor Ransford Gyampo said the vice president’s response was needless.
“Generally, I am in pain and that the vice president should go back to his posturing as a father of the nation and also take note of the fact that his office is just a heartbeat away from the president. And so, some of these things he can leave it to other offices to handle and focus on helping the president to deliver on their promises,” he told Morning Starr host Francis Abban.
Mr. Hamid, however, disagreed saying: “I don’t think the Vice-President did anything wrong, he quite frankly did not respond in equal measure.”
The information Minister who was speaking in an interview added: “If somebody calls you fraudulent, really, quite frankly you would be hurt and if you are hurt, you would have to get the hurt off your chest, and, therefore, to say that: ‘I need to get this response off my chest’, in my view, is OK.”
Source: Ghana/Starrfmonline.com/103.5FM
