“We need to know what their business plan is and be able to subject it to proper scrutiny, we need to know exactly how much money they will need to fix Ghana’s problems, how they will get such monies, what antidote and strategies they have to improve on the current situation we have,” he stressed.

Speaking as part of panellists who unanimously agreed on the need to pay attention to the primaries of political parties, Mr. Cudjoe observed that anything short of tangible plans and suitable solutions by aspirants should be relegated to the background.

The panel discussion was a prelude to the launch of a 70-page book that analysed the electoral processes of the NDC and its impact on entrenching the country’s democracy in Accra.

“Primary Contenders” by Dr. Etse Sikanku, a political analyst, focuses on the upcoming presidential primaries of the NDC, assessing the strengths and weaknesses of candidates vying for the flagbearer position of the party.

The book looks at the campaign strategies of candidates, branding, communication strategy, profiling and does a qualitative assessment of voter attitude and candidates chances at the polls.

Dr. Sikanku explaining the rationale for the book said, throwing light on issues happening in the political parties particularly at the primary level gave impetus to “legitimacy, transparency and accountability” to enhance democracy through a vibrant party system.

“The focus on primaries helps to enhance participation and give Ghanaians and institutions like the media the chance to critically assess candidates who put themselves out there so they can be held accountable for what they say,” he stated.

A lecturer at the University of Ghana Business School, Dr Kobby Mensah observed that “the primaries form the basis of our democracy, we now have cowboys agreed on by a group of people who are presented to us to endorse because we do not follow the candidates from when they put themselves out for the position,” he bemoaned.

Professor Yaw Gyampo, Research Fellow with the Institute of Democratic Governance (IDEG), for his part, urged the NDC to resolve all legal issues surrounding their candidates to forestall unwanted occurrences in future elections.