Fellow countrymen and women, lend me your time and let us educate ourselves on this all-important topic.
The Vice President, Dr. Bawumia, presented his Manifesto in Takoradi on August 19, 2024. The DMB Manifesto is 250 pages of innovative and life-changing policies for Ghanaians.
The question some Ghanaians are asking is, as a sitting Vice President, why can’t he implement these ideas?
This question, which is sometimes genuine because most people do not understand how government works, has also been seized by the NDC as propaganda. The education and explanation are in Article 76 of our constitution. Article 76, section 1: There shall be a Cabinet, which shall consist of the President, the Vice President, and not less than ten and not more than nineteen Ministers of State.
Section 2: The Cabinet shall assist the President in the determination of the general policy of the government.
These two sections are at the heart of the conversation. We practice an executive presidency in Ghana. The Cabinet is the highest decision-making body in the country, with the President having the final say at Cabinet. New policies are deliberated and, at times, put to a vote. The President can overrule the vote or allow the majority of Cabinet members to carry the day.
Let’s be mindful of section 2: the Cabinet assembled by the President is to assist the President. In none of these provisions does it mention any powers of the Vice President. He has a say at Cabinet and one vote at Cabinet. If he has ideas, it is treated the same as ideas from other Cabinet Ministers. If other members of Cabinet do not like the policy, it cannot be approved by Cabinet.
Let us use the E-levy as an example. The E-levy was a proposal by the then Finance Minister, Ken Ofori-Atta. He convinced all sector Ministers that the E-levy would generate enough money for all their sectoral needs. It is now an open fact that Dr. Bawumia opposed the E-levy. When Cabinet deliberated the E-levy, Dr. Bawumia was the opposing voice at Cabinet.
This is how our democracy works. Others keep saying that if he disagreed with some decisions taken by the government he served as Vice President, he should have resigned. People who make these statements do not understand democracy and the work of Cabinet.
Today, he is asking for your vote to be President and assemble his own Cabinet that will help him implement his ideas. When he is President, he will have the constitutional mandate to change laws and implement his innovative ideas without any impediments.
I hope this explanation puts to bed this question, be it genuine or propaganda. 
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Kwadwo Nsafoah Poku
DMB Campaign.
