POOR BAWUMIA By Abena Osagyefo Boateng

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It is obvious that His Excellency, Alhaji Doctor Mahamoud Bawumia is getting to know his smoothness level. His dreams about becoming the next president of Ghana have started falling apart even before the competition has begun.

His boss, Nana Addo Danquah Akuffo-Addo says that he can’t and won’t support his candidature. He says he will be neutral in the contest for the flagbearership of the New Patriotic Party for the 2024 elections.

The president reckons that if he puts his weight behind Bawumia, it will fuel disunity in the party and perhaps cause the defeat of the elephant party in 2024.

The fact is that unlike John Dramani Mahama, and Nana Akufo-Addo, Bawumia cannot carry a huge chunk of the party with him to ensure victory at the polls.

Any contest can become a huge problem leading to defeat because his candidature needs to demonstrate overwhelming support from the party to resonate in the country.

Even though the president swears that he will not support any of the presidential aspirants in his party, he has already gone ahead to praise Alan Kyeremateng for being “very hard working”.

He did not stop there; he went on to indicate that Kyeremateng has been planning to become the presidential candidate over a very long time.

This is in a party where longevity is important, and leaders are expected to take their time and join the long queue of aspirants can be damaging for a Dr Bawumia who has no enviable history in the NPP.

His father was a minister in the Nkrumah government. He later became a strong man in the Rawlings-led National Democratic Congress (NDC) and his mother was a womens’ leader in the NDC.

Bawumia himself worked as the Deputy Governor of the Bank of Ghana in the Rawlings regime, where he justified many if not all of the monetary policies of the PNDC. He did not play any part in the struggle for multi-party democracy and the rule of law.

Bawumia’s association with the NPP came around the year 2012 and he has still not managed to build a base in the party.

Perhaps, this is the time Bawumia has to reflect on what happened to President Kufour’s Vice, Aliu Mahama at the NPP premises. He may have a thing or two to learn and if he is very wise, he may wait a while.

One thing is for sure – Nana Akufo – Addo is certainly not in the corner of Bawumia like Addae Nimo, Boakye Agyarko, Kofi Konadu Appreku and all of them.

Poor Baawumia.