The best companies in the world are the best because they recognise a gap in the market and fulfil the need to create wealth, sometimes greater than the GDPs of entire nations.
Apple is currently valued at 2 trillion dollars, just shy of 1 trillion to match the Gross Domestic Product of the entire African Continent.
When our political parties present their manifestos to the people for votes, they focus on what will be termed as operational issues in any large company. Most of the projects and programs proposed are simply budgetary tweaks, in most instances bidding to outperform each other on how to overspend on revenues.
They also tend to believe that priority areas are the basis for choosing between them as if there is not always an opportunity cost for choosing to do one thing all the other.
Our development paths have therefore been reduced to how much one party can overspend the budget on their priority areas as against the other. We are going nowhere fast. The media and civil society have jumped too quickly on this equalisation consensus and are missing the forest for the trees.
Party manifestos should rather be judged on just one basis and that is the overall theme or what I will term the Unique Competing Vision (UCV).
The Unique Competing Vision is the gap in the country, regional or global framework that a political party or coalition seeks to fill. That Vision must be all encompassing and give the people a clear, tangible benefit at the end of the four-year tenure. It must speak to an important issue that a majority of Ghanaians can agree is the single most important change needed for the next four years.
The greatest periods in our developmental history has been based on such votes rather than the piecemeal system of throwing whatever sticks to the wall.
Think Nkrumah initially for ‘Independence Now’ and a United Africa (Should have stuck with 4 years), or Kufuor’s first term for ‘Change’ for the sake of change and Atta Mills for the restoration of decency to the presidency.
The first four years of each of these administrations were the best in our history and I am not sure you will necessarily remember any pie-in-the-sky promises made.
As we wait for the NDC to launch their own manifesto promises after the NPP, let’s stop as citizens and voters and let’s ask ourselves a simpler question; what hole does Ghana need filled now more than anything and whose leadership or leadership system can provide it?
I will put it starkly: The choice in 2020 is between Economic Management and Health Management. Each party performs better than the other in one. Make your choice for Ghana.
By Dr. Prince Abbey|Ghana
The writer is an entrepreneur and a well-rounded finance professional with a strong academic background. Views expressed in this article are entirely the writer’s.