Following the New Patriotic Party (NPP) Presidential Candidate Dr Mahamudu Bawumia’s media encounter, Member of Parliament for Effia Constituency in the Western Region, Joseph Cudjoe, has asserted that there should be no doubt that Ghana will have to choose between a visionary leader and an administrator.

“When it comes to two people leading a group, one just manages what is there, cannot stretch the mind to innovate, is stuck with ‘this is how we do it,’ and is eventually overtaken by events. The other does the opposite—brings in what is not there, expands, and engenders not just any growth, but one whose foundation will transcend the test of time.”

“And that is what Dr Bawumia has exhibited and is promising Ghana”.

Speaking to journalists after the media encounter, Joseph Cudjoe insisted that Election 2024 will be a “simple contest” between the future and the past. He therefore does not doubt that Ghana will prefer “the one where there are guaranteed policies that are in sync with the demands of a better future for Ghana.”

“What is clear is that there is a contest between two presidential candidates: one who is just pointing out what is wrong and not offering solutions that are futuristic, and another who has identified the strengths and weaknesses of the country and is offering solutions, taking advantage of these to leapfrog the economy to satisfy the demands of the people.”

The Member of Parliament sees “the country at a crossroads” and believes it will need someone “who will do the undoable, who will bring in the unthinkable” for Ghana to become a developed country.

Joseph Cudjoe therefore considers Dr Bawumia’s “Ghana needs an upgrade and not a reset” statement a profound one and wants Ghanaians to see it as not just a political clapback but one grounded in the sincerity of someone with a genuine sense of “thinking outside the box in the collective effort to lift Ghana from its development quagmire.”

“That statement means a lot. It means the way the person thinks is: this is the system, and it is not functioning the way it should. What do you do? Do you reset it, or do you go for an upgrade?”

“And this has made it clear—the brains that are at work and contesting for leadership in the country. Bawumia has made it so distinct that what we are going for is an upgrade of the country, putting the country on a path towards advancement, towards development, because it is when you do that, that we can deliver better welfare.”

According to him, the only reason people are going to the US, the UK, and other countries is that they are chasing developed, advanced economies, and that “will be guaranteed with a Bawumia/Napo administration.”