The former Minister of Finance and Economic Planning and Minister of Education and Sports said the questions, to a large extent, favour some of the candidates.
Osafo Maafo was speaking after the Vice Presidential Debate held at the Akromah Plaza Hotel in Sekondi-Takoradi on Tuesday, November 6, 2012.
He said the Debate should be structured in such a way that candidates who gave wrong answers can be corrected by experts or the moderators so that millions of Ghanaians watching are not deceived into believing those wrong facts.
He was speaking in direct reaction to Vice President Paa Kwesi Amissah-Arthur’s submission that the Cedi depreciation in 2012 is the most stable in the history of the country in an election year.
Paa Kwesi Amissah Arthur, who is running mate to John Dramani Mahama of the National Democratic Congress, said, during the debate, that the Cedi depreciated at 20% this year.
However, Osafo Maafo complained it was a wrong answer from the ruling party’s vice presidential candidate as the Cedi depreciated less at 2.2% in 2004.
Osafo Maafo said without correcting Amissah-Arthur, many Ghanaians may think he was right.
He therefore called for a new format where candidates can be interrupted for correction.
Bawumia vrs Amissah-Arthur
He also raised issues with the questions posed by the moderators during the debate in Sekondi-Takoradi as he claimed they favoured the NDC and NPP candidates in particular.
“Questions on the economy favoured [Mahamudu] Bawumia and Paa Kwesi Amissah-Arthur,” he said.
“In other debates, questions must be even so all candidates can answer meaningfully.”
The Vice Presidential Debate was the first ever to be held in the country.
Past debates by the IEA have been held for only presidential candidates.
Source: 3news.com|Ghana
Osafo Marfo calls for restructuring of IEA debate
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A former minister of state, Yaw Osafo Maafo, has called for restructuring of the debate organized for presidential and vice presidential candidates by the Institute of Economic Affairs in election years.