The February 15, 2020 edition of Newsfile will go down in history as a political battle between aides of Vice Presidents.
It was billed to be a battle of ideas, facts and figures and it certainly lived up to its billing but ended with Dr. Gideon Boako, an aide to the current Vice President Dr Mahamudu Bawumia, making mince of John Jinapor, an aide to former Vice President and President John Mahama.
Jinapor, who was the former deputy minister in the erstwhile President John Dramani administration, bit more than he could chew when he sought to battle the spokesperson and Economic Advisor for the Vice President, Dr. Boako.
One could not help but admire the intellectual discussion on the popular weekend show on Accra-based Joy FM and Multi TV as the two engaged in battle of facts checking on the economic achievements of the current government compared to the previous administration.
The Internet was full of admiration for Dr. Boako for his intellectual dexterity on economics and governance issues.
After leading a hurriedly arranged and face-saving public dialogue to counter the comprehensive presentation made by the Vice President a day earlier at the maiden Regional Results Fair in Kumasi, many were those who expected that the former deputy power minister was going to shred the vintage Dr. Bawumia into pieces.
It appeared, however, that Hon. Jinapor overestimated his relevance after failing to tackle the issues raised by the Vice President head-on with facts and figures.
From the general economy to Energy and Agriculture, the NDC MP resorted to tangential arguments and sought to set his own facts and interrogate them instead of responding directly to evidence presented in Kumasi by Dr. Bawumia.
With the young Economist holding him in check and occasionally checkmating, Hon. Jinapor at a point seemed frustrated and almost lost his temper and the programme had to take an unplanned break.
The NDC should be prepared to argue with facts else they’ll always lose the intellectual battle in the media.
By Clifford Tsatsu, Ho, Volta Region
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