President of policy think tank, IMANI Africa, Franklin Cudjoe, has cautioned the New Patriotic Party’s (NPP) flagbearer, Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia, to be more analytical and realistic about his campaign promises.
During the NPP’s manifesto launch in Takoradi on August 18, Dr. Bawumia pledged to reduce transportation costs by 40% through the introduction of electric vehicles.
Speaking on Channel One TV’s The Big Issue, Mr. Cudjoe scrutinized the policy, questioning the feasibility of Dr. Bawumia’s promise.
He emphasized the need for adequate infrastructure to support such initiatives, citing concerns about maintenance, accessibility, and the readiness of the public to adopt electric vehicles.
Mr. Cudjoe also referenced Dr. Bawumia’s previous unfulfilled promises, such as providing cars to Okada riders, and urged him to take a more incremental approach to policy implementation.
The IMANI president suggested that Dr. Bawumia should focus on traditional energy sources rather than solely pursuing clean energy.
Mr. Cudjoe further expressed disappointment that Dr. Bawumia’s manifesto did not address the current economic challenges and chaos and questioned the effectiveness of the private sector partnerships proposed in the manifesto.
“I don’t doubt the fact that we need to move to the electric vehicle system and all that, but do we have the infrastructure yet? How many people can hop on such buses? Do we have a proper way of maintaining them? I think those little things, if we don’t do them quite well, that’s what will come back and bite Bawumia quite well.”
“You remember when he promised that Okada people were going to be using cars, we haven’t heard anything on that yet and it’s important that he takes baby steps in some of these things. I think he should rather draw on the traditional source of energy rather than this fixation on clean energy or transition element of our energy space.”
“I would have wished I heard a lot more on how we can get out of the chaos his administration has led us into, but unfortunately I didn’t hear anything like that so it makes me wonder whether the plan they have in place with private sector side, whether they are going to deliver.”
