From a cleaner to a presidential candidate of the NPP – A story of Dr Bawumia

To many Dr Bawumia’s ‘sudden’’ rise in the NPP from an unknown figure in the party to the running mate of the party, to vice president and now to the presidential candidate of the party, might seem to sheer luck, but the vice president has a story to tell.

Born to a family of 18 kids, in Tamale, the capital town of the Northern Region of Ghana, Dr Bawumia had a very modest upbringing.

After filing his nomination for the NPP presidential primaries on Friday, June 16, 2023, Dr Bawumia shared the story of his humble beginning and the struggles he went through to get to where he is today.

He said that his journey in life has not been easy; adding that it took a lot of hard work, discipline, and dedication to get to this point.

“From Sakasaka Primary School to Tamale Secondary School to Oxford University to the Bank of Ghana as Deputy Governor and then to become Vice President of the Republic of Ghana. It has been an amazing journey and I thank God for how far he has brought me.”

“I have been a by-day worker on farms during the holidays in Secondary school, I have been a warehouse boy even after finishing University, and I have been a mini truck driver. I was only able to pay fees for one term during my studies at Oxford University and I had to survive for the rest of my studies without paying fees, thanks to my colleagues. I only settled my fees in arrears after I worked following the completion of my PhD in Canada. I have also been a cleaner of dormitories in my university days in Canada, so I can say I have not had it easy at all.

“My life experience tells me never to take anything for granted and always to have respect for people no matter their stature in life, no matter how big or small they are. The cleaner or the driver you meet today could be the vice president or the president tomorrow,” he said.

About Dr Bawumia:

Mahamudu Bawumia is an economist, banker, and vice president of Ghana. He was a Deputy Governor of the Bank of Ghana until he was nominated Vice Presidential candidate for the New Patriotic Party (NPP) Presidential candidate Nana Akufo-Addo in 2008.

He also ran as the vice-presidential candidate of the New Patriotic Party in Ghana's 2012 general elections and was the lead witness for the petitioners in the 2012/2013 Presidential Election Petition, which challenged the declaration of John Mahama as the winner of Ghana's 2012 Presidential Election. He is married to Samira Ramadan and they have four children.

He was born on October 7, 1963, in Tamale to the late Alhaji Mumuni Bawumia, former Chairman of the Council of State (1992–2000), and Hajia Mariama Bawumia. Bawumia's father Alhaji Mumuni Bawumia was a teacher, lawyer, and politician. He was a Mamprugu Royal and Paramount Chief of the Kperiga Traditional Area at the time of his death in September 2002.

He was a founding member of the Northern Peoples' Party alongside Chief S. D. Dombo, Chief Abeifa Karbo, Yakubu Tali, the Tolon Naa, and J. A. Braimah, Kabachewura. The Northern Peoples Party, together with the National Liberation Movement and other opposition political parties later merged into the United Party, the forebear of the current New Patriotic Party.

Alhaji Bawumia served under various Ghanaian governments in various capacities, including a member of the Northern Territories Council, the Gold Coast Legislative Assembly, a Member of Parliament of the First Republic, Northern Regional Minister, and Ghana Ambassador to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

Alhaji Bawumia was in March 1999 awarded the highest national honour, membership of the Order of the Star of Ghana. Mahamudu Bawumia’s mother, Hajia Mariama Bawumia, is a native of Kpasenkpe in the West Mamprusi District. She was one of the first northern female students to gain admission to Wesley Girls High School, Cape Coast.

Education

Born into a large family, Mahamudu Bawumia was the twelfth of his father’s 18 children and the second of his mother’s five. Mahamudu Bawumia attended the Sakasaka Primary School in Tamale and gained admission to Tamale Secondary School in 1975. He was President of the Ghana United Nations Students’ Association (GUNSA) in 1981. After graduating from Tamale Secondary School, he went to the United Kingdom where he studied banking and obtained the Chartered Institute of Bankers Diploma (ACIB). He took a First-Class Honours Degree in Economics at Buckingham University in 1987.

He then obtained a master's degree in Economics at Lincoln College, Oxford, and obtained a PhD in Economics at Simon Fraser University, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada in 1995. His areas of specialization include Macroeconomics, International Economics, Development Economics, and Monetary Policy. He has numerous publications.

Work experience:

From 1988 to 1990, Bawumia worked as a lecturer in Monetary Economics, and International Finance at the Emile Woolf College of Accountancy in London, England. He also served as an economist at the Research Department of the International Monetary Fund in Washington, DC, USA.

Between 1996 and 2000, Bawumia served as an Assistant Professor of Economics at Hankamer School of Business, Baylor University, Texas, USA, where he also received the Young Researcher Award in 1998. He was listed in "Who is Who Among America’s Teachers' in 1999.

Bawumia returned to Ghana in 2000 to work as an economist at the Bank of Ghana. He rose from Senior Economist to Head of Department, and subsequently as Special Assistant to the Governor of the Bank. President J.A. Kufuor appointed Bawumia as Deputy Governor of the Bank of Ghana in June 2006.

At the Bank of Ghana Bawumia: As Head of the Monetary Policy and Financial Stability Department, he was part of the team that designed and implemented the inflation-targeting framework that continues to guide monetary policy and the workings of the Monetary Policy Committee at the Bank of Ghana.

The inflation-targeting framework established reduced inflation from over 40% in 2000 to 10.2% by 2007 (i.e., before the oil price shock of 2007/2008) while maintaining relative exchange rate stability. Was part of the team that was instrumental in designing and implementing policy initiatives such as the abolition of the secondary reserve requirements and the opening up of the banking sector to competition.

This resulted in a major increase in the availability of credit to the private sector from 12.5% of GDP in 2001 to 28.5% of GDP by 2008.

Led the Bank of Ghana’s technical negotiation team and was on the government team that negotiated with the World Bank and International Monetary Fund since 2001 through HIPC and PRGF. Partly as a result of these negotiations, Ghana 2007 successfully ended its dependence on IMF assistance.

Served as a member of the Government technical negotiating team on HIPC Paris Club and Completion Point Negotiations. Ghana completed the HIPC process successfully with significant debt relief of close to $4 billion. He was a member of the Government Team negotiating the Millennium Challenge Account Compact with the US Government.

The MCA resulted in many significant projects such as the recently inaugurated George Bush Highway. He Was a member of the Government Technical Team on the Deregulation of Ghana’s Petroleum Sector.

As Chairman of the Capital Markets Committee, was responsible for the strategy for accessing the international capital markets with a debut of US$750 million, which was four times oversubscribed. Was part of the team that designed and implemented the successful redenomination of the cedi. Through this process, the cedi was considerably strengthened.

Significant savings were also made by the Bank of Ghana in currency printing costs. He Was involved in the design and implementation of the E-zwich common platform for all banks, savings and loans companies, and rural banks, offering interoperability across different financial institutions. As the Deputy Governor in charge of financial stability oversaw the soundness of the banking sector.

As Deputy Governor Bawumia served on the Boards of the Bank of Ghana, Ghana International Bank (UK) Ghana Telecom, Revenue Agencies Governing Board, Social Security, and National Insurance Trust. Shortly after the 2008 election, Bawumia resigned as Deputy Governor at the Bank of Ghana.

BAI/OGB

You can also watch the latest episode of Everyday People on GhanaWeb TV below:



Ghana’s leading digital news platform, GhanaWeb, in conjunction with the Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital, is embarking on an aggressive campaign which is geared towards ensuring that parliament passes comprehensive legislation to guide organ harvesting, organ donation, and organ transplantation in the country.

You can also watch today's GhanaWeb news headlines in Twi here