By Daniel Bampoe
Former Vice-President and New Patriotic Party (NPP) flagbearer, Dr Mahamudu Bawumia, has launched a fresh political attack on President John Dramani Mahama’s government, questioning the significance of its economic recovery claims while insisting that the living conditions of ordinary Ghanaians must improve before the administration can claim meaningful success.
Dr Bawumia delivered the criticism on Sunday, October 18, 2026, during the NPP’s National Thanksgiving Service at the Church of Pentecost’s F.D. Walker Memorial Temple in Sunyani, Bono Region, where party leaders and supporters gathered to express gratitude following the party’s activities and reflect on its political future after its defeat in the 2024 general elections.
Addressing the congregation, the former Vice-President challenged the governing National Democratic Congress (NDC) to look beyond headline economic indicators and demonstrate how improvements in inflation and the exchange rate were translating into tangible relief for households, businesses and workers.
“The stability of the economy is meaningless if it cannot be linked to the total liberation of our people from suffering,” Dr Bawumia stated, drawing a distinction between the government’s economic performance claims and the everyday experiences of citizens.
His remarks represent an attempt by the opposition leader to shift the national economic debate from macroeconomic indicators to the cost of living, household purchasing power and the ability of Ghanaians to meet their basic needs.
According to Dr Bawumia, an administration cannot rely exclusively on falling inflation or a strengthening cedi to establish that the economy is performing well when citizens continue to face economic difficulties. He argued that economic stability must ultimately be measured by whether people experience improvements in their standard of living.
The comments place the Mahama administration’s economic management under renewed political scrutiny and suggest that the NPP intends to make the gap between economic statistics and household welfare a central issue in its preparations for the 2028 general elections.
Bawumia Challenges Mahama’s Economic Recovery Narrative
The former Vice-President’s criticism comes against the background of the economic challenges that dominated Ghanaian politics before the 2024 general elections, when the NPP government led by former President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo faced public discontent over inflation, the depreciation of the cedi, rising living costs and the country’s economic difficulties.
Dr Bawumia, who served as Vice-President throughout the Akufo-Addo administration, was the NPP’s presidential candidate in the December 2024 elections. His campaign was conducted at a time when economic management had become one of the most contentious issues in the national political debate.
The NPP ultimately lost the election to the NDC, with John Mahama returning to the presidency after defeating Dr Bawumia. The outcome marked a major political setback for the governing party at the time and gave the NDC a fresh mandate to address the economic concerns it had highlighted while in opposition.
During its campaign, the NDC presented itself as an alternative to the Akufo-Addo-Bawumia administration, promising changes in economic management and measures intended to ease the difficulties confronting households and businesses.
Following its return to power, the Mahama government has faced the responsibility of demonstrating that its policies can deliver the economic relief promised during the election campaign.
Dr Bawumia’s latest remarks suggest that the NPP intends to challenge the government on whether its economic recovery narrative is producing sufficient improvements in the lives of ordinary citizens.
By questioning the relevance of falling inflation and movements in the exchange rate when people continue to experience hardship, he has sought to make the effectiveness of the government’s economic policies a matter of practical outcomes rather than statistical performance.
However, the extent to which economic conditions have improved or deteriorated must be assessed using current data on inflation, the exchange rate, employment, wages, food prices and household expenditure. The experiences of individual households, while important, do not by themselves establish the overall performance of the economy.
Falling Inflation Must Reflect in People’s Pockets
A central theme of Dr Bawumia’s address was his rejection of the idea that improving economic indicators automatically translate into economic prosperity for the population.
He argued that if the government points to declining inflation and a fall in the dollar’s value against the cedi as evidence of progress, it must also explain how those developments are easing the financial burden on citizens.
He maintained that economic stability should be connected to a broader improvement in people’s welfare, suggesting that the ultimate objective of economic policy must be to reduce hardship and create conditions in which citizens can live more comfortably.
NPP Begins Rebuilding
Beyond the criticism of the government, Dr Bawumia used the thanksgiving service to address the NPP’s political position following its defeat in the 2024 elections.
Acknowledging the setback, he indicated that the party had learnt important lessons from the election and was now stronger and more united than it had been during the campaign.
The admission comes as the NPP seeks to reorganise its political structures, rebuild public confidence and prepare for the next general elections in 2028.
The party’s defeat ended its second consecutive four-year term in government under the Akufo-Addo administration and returned it to opposition after eight years in power.
Bawumia Promises Fully Costed Policies Ahead of 2028
In what could become a defining element of the NPP’s preparations for the next election, Dr Bawumia pledged that the party would present practical and fully costed policy proposals to Ghanaians ahead of the 2028 polls.
He argued that the NDC had made numerous campaign promises that could leave the governing party politically vulnerable if it failed to fulfil them.
Dr Bawumia’s pledge therefore places an obligation on the NPP to demonstrate not only that it can identify shortcomings in the current administration but also that it has developed workable alternatives capable of delivering measurable results.
His assertion that the NDC’s campaign promises could leave the government exposed also signals an intention to hold the administration accountable for commitments made during the election campaign.
However, the specific promises he was referring to were not individually identified in the account of his address. Their status will need to be assessed against the government’s published commitments, implementation plans and subsequent performance.
Calls for Unity Across Political And Religious Lines
Dr Bawumia also used the thanksgiving service to urge party executives and supporters to promote reconciliation and unity across ethnic, tribal and religious divisions.
He called on party members to embrace a spirit of togetherness and work towards a common national objective, while encouraging the NPP to strengthen its internal relationships after the divisions and disagreements that can accompany an electoral defeat.
