At the University of Professional Studies, Accra (UPSA) yesterday, Vice-President and flagbearer of the governing New Patriotic Party (NPP) made a case for his election as president in the December polls.
In an address that lasted more than 2 hours, Dr. Bawumia detailed what he said are successes chalked in the current administration and his vision for the country if he voted as president.
He stated that the Akufo-Addo-led government had managed to save the country’s economy from the ruins it inherited and was steering it on the right track until the COVID-19 pandemic hit the world.
Despite the economic difficulties occasioned by the pandemic, he said the government has implemented transformational policies and programmes that have improved the living conditions of the citizenry.
Dr. Bawumia stated that he intends to consolidate on the gains made under the current administration, leveraging on technology and digitalization.
He indicated that the focus of his government, if he wins the elections, will be creating wealth and reducing cost of living.
According to him, cost of living soared up significantly due to the pandemic and the Russian /Ukrainian war.
The major drivers of this increase, he identified, were steep surges in food, energy, housing and transport prices.
He, therefore, intends to implement policies and programmes that will bring the cost of these items down thereby reducing cost of living.
One of such policies, he indicated, will be the adoption of electric vehicles for commercial transport in the country.
Dr. Bawumia explained that the use of EVs for public transport will reduce fares by at least 30 percent since they do not use petroleum products as fuel and their spare parts are cheaper.
“My administration will work to reduce the cost of public transport between 30-40% with the adoption of electric vehicles for public transportation. The public transport pricing formula is dominated by two key variables; the price of fuel and the price of spare parts,” he said.
“Electric vehicles do not use petrol or diesel and spare parts are minimal. That is what will bring down the fares for EVs. More importantly, transport fares for EVs will be stable and the constant and large increases in fares will become a thing of the past”.
