BAWUMIA DOES NOT UNDERSTAND STATISTICAL FIGURES- GSS.

Our attention has been drawn to a publication on your website with the title “Bawumia does not understand statistical figures- GSS” and we wish to exercise our right of rejoinder.

It is fast becoming a trend that state institutions wish to descend into the realm of name calling and propaganda. We are of the opinion that such developments are not very healthy for our nation building exercise. We are particularly concerned about the ‘insulting’ manner in which the Ghana Statistical Service decided to describe Dr. Bawumia. We are however not bothered as we know that Ghanaians do appreciate his mettle and candor.

We also wish to state for all to know that the exact comments of Dr. Bawumia, as regards they Ghana Statistical Service were that: “While I do not want to argue with or question the integrity of our hard working officials at the Ghana Statistical Service who do a good job under very difficult circumstances, and should indeed be resourced (and given more independence) to do the work they do, I will like to state that the available evidence indicates that statistically reported single digit inflation is not consistent with the economic fundamentals and developments in some key economic indicators relating to the cost of living, interest rates and exchange rates. It could be a measurement issue, but the established relationships between inflation and key economic variables appear to have gone missing for now.”

It is interesting how the statement from the Ghana Statistical Service was silent on the issue of how “the available evidence indicates that statistically reported single digit inflation is not consistent with the economic fundamentals” and rather chose to comment on Dr. Bawumia’s understanding of statistical figures. Surprisingly, this position is just a resonance of the ruling party’s propaganda and thus raises serious questions about the leadership of the service and their independence.

We would wish to remind the Ghana Statistical Service that it is a state institution that has been set up, run and is maintained by the taxpayer whose first interest is the issues and not their views of peoples’ understanding. We would also wish to suggest to the service, that a response to the issues raised would be in order even as at now. That is if it can provide one. Again, they should be guided by the comments pf ex-president Rawlings and learn to tolerate constructive criticism. They are not infallible. If they were, Ghana would not have been fined $38 million by the IMF for misreporting figures sometime in the not too distant past.

We would want to conclude by stating for the record that we do not have anything against the service. We are amazed by the work they manage to do under the conditions they are in. However, we feel more can be done and we will do our best to advocate this position so their work is improved for the betterment of Ghana. Such advocacy should therefore not be viewed as a slight.

NANA KOFI OPPONG DAMOAH- 0244 928 375

DEPUTY COMMUNICATIONS DIRECTOR

NANA ADDO FOR PRESIDENT (NAFOP)2012