The Vice President, Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia, on Saturday morning brought Kwahu to a standstill as thousands joined him for a walk.
The milling crowd, mostly grassroots members of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), also included party big wigs such as General Secretary Justin Kodua Frimpong, National Organiser Henry Nana Boakye, Minister of Agriculture Bryan Acheampong as well as a host of Members of Parliament (MPs), regional and constituency executives of the NPP.
The well-attended walk, dubbed Unity Walk, was organised as part of activities marking the Easter festivities in Kwahu, and the presence of Vice President Bawumia, who was mobbed at the start of the walk, added spice to it.
Despite observing his Ramadan fast, Dr. Bawumia walked the full route with the enthusiastic participants, who chanted his name amidst songs endorsing his Presidential bid.
The walk ended inside the Mpraeso township, where the Vice President addressed the crowd.
He commended them for massively turning out for the walk and also seized the opportunity to enumerate a number of the interventions and infrastructure projects the Akufo-Addo-led government has achieved, including free access to senior high school and TVET, expansion of roads and railways, sports infrastructure development, medical deliveries through drones, ambulances to all constituencies, mobile money interoperability and several other digital initiatives.
Vice President Dr Mahamudu Bawumia addresses the crowd
On employment, Dr. Bawumia revealed the government has created about 2.1 million jobs; 1.2 million in the public sector and 900,000 in the private sector.
“These are verifiable and anybody with a contrary figure can forward and challenge me,” he told the crowd.
Dr. Bawumia said the Akufo-Addo-led government is keen on creating more jobs for the youth, and it intends to do so by working hard to restore the economy, which has been hit by the on-going global economic crisis.
While urging the NPP faithfuls to be proud of what the government has done in the past six and half years, he fired a parting shot to former President John Mahama, challenging him to tell Ghanaians a single policy under his belt throughout his political career.
“I won’t ask for two or three, but just one. Can John Mahama mention just one policy he introduced in this country in over his nearly 3 decades in politics? He has been a Deputy Minister, a Minister, Vice President and President and I want him to name just one policy,” Dr. Bawumia challenged the former President, who is tipped to be retained by the NDC as its flagbearer for the 2024 elections.