Opinion: Dr Bawumia is transforming Ghana

The soaring global food prices are due to the prevailing global inflation rate, which is hovering around 7.5% according to data from the IMF as of 17 June 2024, and correspondingly gauges the global food inflation at an average of 120.4 points as of the end of May 2024, which is up 1.1 points from April 2024.

Dr Mahamadu Bawumia is relentless in sustaining and achieving food security and lowering the cost of living for Ghanaians. He plans to tackle these issues in the agriculture, housing, energy, and transport sectors of our economy.

For the agriculture space, Dr Mahamadu Bawumia will promote food security using modern agricultural technologies and irrigation and utilising agricultural lime for soil fertility.

Farmers across the country will be educated on the use of these new technologies and innovative techniques to boost production and profitability. The increase in agricultural production will improve our share of GDP, reduce the cost of food, and put Ghana on the path to attaining food security.

Under housing, Dr Mahamadu Bawumia will create a policy called ‘Housing for All Policy’ that will focus on public housing by partnering with the private sector to build large estates without government borrowing and enhancing the National Rental Assistance scheme.

This policy is similar to that of Singapore’s housing system, which globally is currently the best model to eliminate homelessness and decongest overpopulated cities. The Singaporean policy has enabled the country to house over 85% of its population in over one million apartments.

With this policy being implemented in Ghana, it will contribute to high levels of social harmony among the citizens, leading to an increase in tolerance amongst Ghanaians, improving individual livelihoods, tackling social issues like mental health and homelessness, and greatly improving citizens’ living conditions.

After Dr Mahamadu Bawumia wins this year’s election, he will enact policies targeted at achieving energy self-sufficiency through solar and other renewable sources while leveraging market efficiency to drive costs down.

He has promised that by the conclusion of his first term, he plans to diversify our current energy mix by introducing 2000 MW of solar power and additional wind power from independent producers, which will lower our reliance on oil and gas and greatly reduce electricity expenses.

To provide reliable and affordable power to Ghanaians, private sector participation will be encouraged in energy generation and retail. This will enable the current industries that we have in the country to thrive and make them competitive globally.

It will also attract more manufacturing companies to come into the country, resulting in job creation, enhanced services, a boost in exports, and supporting our AfCFTA strategy to increase Ghanaian industries’ participation in intra-African trade. Import duties on solar panels will be waived to facilitate the smooth transition to green energy.

Dr Mahamudu Bawumia will engage with investors in the private sector to partner with his government to reduce the cost of public transport by 30–40% by adopting electric vehicles, which are more environmentally friendly and have much lower maintenance expenses than internal combustion vehicles since they have fewer moving parts and require less servicing than typical petrol or diesel vehicles.

They utilise energy to charge their batteries, which makes them more efficient, and when combined with the cost of power, charging an electric vehicle is less expensive than filling it up with petrol or diesel for your transportation needs.

The current administration’s efforts to reduce the cost of living for Ghanaians can be seen in the policies that have been implemented to alleviate our current predicaments, but we all understand that more needs to be done, and that is why the Ghanaian electorate must continue with the New Patriotic Party and vote Dr Mahamadu Bawumia as the President of our Republic come 7 December to move us to the next chapter.

Neil Owusu

The writer is a member of the NPP National Communications Team