At long last the much anticipated date for New Patriotic Party (NPP) delegates to go to the polls to elect a flagbearer ahead of the 2028 general election is here.
The exercise is taking place at a time the NPP requires healing from fractures it suffered in the past few years while in government.
While some of the fractures were inflicted by shocks from external forces such as the COVID-19 pandemic, and the Russo-Ukrainian war, others emanated from smelly propaganda by those who saw no need for principles in the quest for political power.
For a political party whose trail-blazing novelties in democratic governance in the country are unequalled, the delegates should not get it wrong today.
Today’s voting is about choosing a man who would steer the ship of party through the choppy waters of bad governance.
The decision of the delegates today will play a crucial role in the direction of politics in their chosen party.
It is an internal election in which the tension and anxiety are unsurpassed in the history of such exercises in this country; rival parties and their supporters, the business community and others have riveted their attention on the process and the outcome.
As noted earlier, prophets and makeshift pollsters have all jumped into the fray with assortment of forecasts, some claiming to be receiving their results from the spiritual realm.
Ad hoc pollsters put together by desperate contenders for the highly coveted flagbearer position have been busy doing what their paymasters demand of them. Today, all shall end as the delegates speak for a time-tested personality – Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia.
The polls today are about picking a consistent and reliable personality whose excellent performance in public office in the apex bank and for eight years as Vice President can be vouched for.
Without blemish attached to his records, coupled with his verifiable footprints in the digital sphere and the accompanying dividends thereof, need the delegates gamble with the destiny of this party?
When seeking a pair of trusted hands to entrust the leadership of a formidable party and by extension Ghana to, there is no overlooking Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia.
They derided his digitisation project and his predictions about this latest development in the hi-tech world, but today the infrastructure whose construction he championed has offered employment to countless Ghanaians.
Even since former President John Agyekum Kufuor spotted the young man, the venerable politician has not regretted for allowing him to put across his talents for the benefits of the country.
Dr. Tony Aidoo once described him as a man with no equal in terms of smartness in the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC), we add, and in the NPP.
His services have not been limited to the NPP but to the whole country.
We choose Dr. Bawumia because leadership of both a political party and a country, the complexity of Ghana, demands a personality whose records stand tall, and these are verifiable.
Leadership is not about baseless name-calling and misogyny. It is about a towering emotional intelligence.
It is about focus and continuous search for novelties that can change the fortunes of a developing country in a world being pushed by digitisation.
When the country’s economy was on the verge of collapse, a situation occasioned by consistent rise in the cost of fuel and a depreciating national currency, it took the outstanding IQ of a certain Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia to think out of the box, leading to the Gold for Oil and the Domestic Gold Purchasing initiatives to address the abrasive economic developments of the times.
Those whose utterances and posturing border on ethno-religious bigotry should come nowhere near political power. Ours is a peaceful country in which members of the Abrahamic faiths live in harmony. This quality resides in one person – Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia.
Today, delegates will vote for this man because they love their country and cannot afford to lose such a gem.