I’m Not a Policeman to Arrest the Cedi – Ato Forson Jabs Bawumia

Finance Minister Cassiel Ato Forson has taken a jab at former Vice President Dr Mahamudu Bawumia over his infamous claim that he had arrested the city.

Speaking on Joy News after the presentation of the Mid Year Budget to Parliament on Thursday, July 24, 2025, Forson said the NDC government had performed exceptionally well to stop the cedi’s decline and get it appreciating against the dollar.

He said Bawumia boasted that they had arrested the cedi, yet by the time they left office, the currency was in a freefall.

“Eight years in office. There was a time he said that he has arrested the cedi. Why couldn’t he do it?” Ato Forson queried.

Host Evans Mensah asked the Finance Minister if he had also arrested the cedi but he refused to discuss it in those terms.

“I’m not a policeman. But this is the evidence. The evidence on the screen shows a historic appreciation of the cedi.” he said. “I mean, looking at where it is, it’s sort of climbed 42.6%. And if you look at where we were coming from and that steep climb there, the evidence is there.”

The Finance Minister added that the government’s disciplined fiscal policy has led to the rise of the currency and that they’re determined to remain on that track and not get distracted.

“We want to ensure that we’ll end the year with the same level of appreciation. We want to make sure that this level of appreciation and the stability we are seeing is sustained. That is where my focus is,” he concluded.

Analysis of Ato Forson’s Bawumia jab

Finance Minister Ato Forson is on a roll because since he took office, the cedi has managed to stop its free fall and even rise appreciably against the dollar.

That has bought him some goodwill, which should last so long as the government remains on track and does not get derailed by unnecessary extravagance and corruption – the twin evils that has sunk almost all Ghanaian governments.

Regarding the jab at Bawumia, the former Vice President brought that upon himself by his boast that he had arrested the cedi and then his failure to do just that, rather watching on helplessly as it became the worst-performing currency in the world.

One interesting side note – as a potential future NDC flagbearer, we could have an Ato Forson vs Bawumia battle of the economic gurus on our hands in the 2028 election.

Now that would be a sight to behold!