Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia, was on Saturday, January 7, sworn into office as Vice President of the Republic of Ghana.
He becomes the 6th Ghanaian to occupy the high office since Ghana begun democratic governance in 1992, and he will serve alongside the newly sworn-in President, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo.
Clothed in an all-white overall apparel, popularly known as “Agbada”, he took the oath of allegiance and oath of office administered by the Chief Justice, Justice Georgina Theodora Wood.
He subsequently signed the oath book to confirm his dedication to the service of the country for the next four years.
Dr. Bawumia, a banker, economist and a former Deputy Governor of the Bank of Ghana, joined mainstream politics in 2012 as a running mate to the New Patriotic Party flagbearer, Nana Akufo-Addo.
In spite of their loss to the National Democratic Congress (NDC) candidate, John Mahama that year, the two again contested in the 2016 Presidential elections, where they won convincingly against the incumbent NDC candidate.
They polled 53.85.% of the total valid votes cast, against the NDC’s 44.4%.
THE OATH OF ALLEGIANCE
I, Mahamudu Bawumia, do (in the name of the Almighty God swear) (solemnly affirm) that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the Republic of Ghana as by law established; that I will uphold the sovereignty and integrity of Ghana; and that I will preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the Republic of Ghana. (So help me God).
THE OATH OF THE VICE-PRESIDENT
“I, Mahamudu Bawumia, having been elected to the office of Vice-President of the Republic of Ghana, do (in the name of the Almighty God swear) (solemnly affirm) that I will be faithful and true to the Republic of Ghana; that I will at all times preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the Republic of Ghana; and I dedicate myself to the service and well-being of the people of the Republic of Ghana and to do right to all manner of persons.”
“I further (solemnly swear) (solemnly affirm) that should I at any time break this oath of office, I shall submit myself to the laws of the Republic of Ghana and suffer the penalty for it. (So help me God).”
‘About the New Vice President’
53-year-old Bawumiah is the son of Alhaji Mumuni Bawumia, lawyer and politician, a Mamprugu Royal and Paramount Chief of the Kperiga Traditional Area who served as Chairman of the Council of State from 1992 to 2000.
Twelfth of his father’s 18 children, Bawumia attended the Sakasaka Primary school in Tamale, and gained admission to Tamale Secondary School in 1975.
After graduating from Tamale Secondary School, he went to the United Kingdom where he studied banking and obtained the Chartered Institute of Bankers Diploma (ACIB). He also obtained a First Class Honours Degree in Economics at Buckingham University in 1987 and subsequently obtained a master’s degree in Economics at Lincoln College, Oxford, and then a Ph.D. in Economics at the Simon Fraser University, Canada in 1995.
From 1988 to 1990, Bawumia worked as a lecturer in Monetary Economics, and International Finance at the Emile Woolf College of Accountancy in England. He also served as an economist at the Research Department of the International Monetary Fund in Washington, DC, USA.
Between 1996 and 2000, Bawumia served as an Assistant Professor of Economics at Hankamer School of Business, Baylor University, Texas, USA.
Bawumia returned to Ghana in 2000 to work as an economist at the Bank of Ghana. He rose from Senior Economist to Head of Department, and subsequently as Special Assistant to the Deputy Governor of the Bank in June 2006.