The Member of Parliament for Bolgatanga Central, Isaac Adongo, has expressed regret for comparing Manchester United’s Harry Maguire to Ghana’s Vice President, Dr Mahamudu Bawumia, whom he described as a liability in a viral video over a year ago.
Adongo acknowledged that, at the time of his comments, both Maguire and Bawumia were not performing up to expectations in their respective roles.
However, he noted that Maguire has since become an integral part of Manchester United and is scoring goals for his team, while Dr Bawumia has led the country into debt.
Speaking on the floor of Parliament on Tuesday, Mr Adongo said “Will you prefer Mr Mahama’s economy where you were drinking your kalyppo for 50 pesewas to your (era)… where you are buying that Kalyppo for GH₵6? Which do you prefer? You have inflated your revenue by over GH₵40 billion so that you can now project expenditure of GH₵226 billion so you can have GH₵40 billion cushion for reckless expenditure in an election year, that is all that you have done.”
The Acting Ranking Member of the Finance Committee of Parliament, who is also the Bolgatanga Central MP, clarified that former President John Mahama collected a total revenue of GH₵65 billion from the people of Ghana during his four-year tenure. In contrast, the ruling New Patriotic Party has taken GH₵344 billion from the people’s pockets and an additional GH₵279 billion from the poor people in Ghana. As a result, he expressed regret to the footballer for his assessment.
“Mr Speaker you remember that last year, I was very quick to compare my big brother, Dr Mahamudu Bawumia to Harry Maguire. Mr Speaker, I am now apologising to Harry Maguire. Today Maguire has turned, he is a transformational footballer.
“Harry Maguire is now scoring goals for Manchester United. Harry Maguire is now a key player for Manchester, as for our Maguire [Dr Bawumia], he is now roaming at the IMF with a cup in hand. As for our economic Maguire, he was able to get our pensioners to leave their homes and come and parade in the streets,” he added.
