The Member of Parliament for the Effia Constituency in the Western Region, Joseph Cudjoe, has jeered at his parliamentary opponent for daring to contest him despite his glaring and towering developmental accomplishments in the constituency.
He is convinced his contender is ill-informed since he maintains a simple assessment of his work as the Member of Parliament for Effia for the past eight years would have “jolted her from her slumber that she is embarking on a suicidal mission trying to contest me”.
“I’m surprised that I am being contested because the performances are there to see and you can even see from behind and around me the swell of delegates who are here to endorse my candidature, right ahead of the contest. You can see that that candidate who is coming may have done a very wrong assessment of her chances of having a place in the contest because I daresay that all the delegates are here with me.”
Joseph Cudjoe, who doubles as the Deputy Minister of Energy in charge of Finance and Infrastructure, is seeking re-election to represent the people of Effia for the third time in Parliament.
He is being challenged by a Senior Lecturer at the Takoradi Technical University (TTU), Dr. Adwoa Kwegyirba.
Speaking to journalists after filing his nomination forms at the constituency office, he built, Mr. Cudjoe said even though he is not afraid of contest, one of life’s valuable lesson is the ability to determine which “fight to get into and which one to stay clear of”.
“So even though the party’s constitution would allow for free participation and free contest, it is incumbent upon the candidate who is going to contest to do his or her assessments to know whether he or she has a chance. In this case, I believe the other candidate has made a very wrong assessment of the situation despite the fact that the constitution allows for open contest.”
Mr. Cudjoe explained that results of his checks done on his contender even show that there is the likelihood that he will be running unopposed.
“One thing was palpably clear in our research about my contender. She is an alien to this Effia Constituency so I wonder how she will sail pass the Vetting Committee knowing very well she does not come from Effia.”
Nonetheless, Mr. Cudjoe is confident the delegates will vote massively for him when it reaches the point of competition.
He stated he does not fear the delegates because he has over the course of his tenure worked and built an unbreakable bond with them.
“I am not afraid of the delegates because it is the same set of delegates that delivered the unopposed results that made me the MP. The delegates did same in 2016. I have no doubt in my mind that they will stick with me for the third time.”
Mr. Cudjoe indicated that his re-election will empower him to continue the good works that he has started.
“My reason for seeking re-election is simple. It is because I have had a very successful first term as a Member of Parliament and a very successful second term…The first time I was in opposition and even in spite of the shortcomings of an opposition parliamentary representative of the constituency, I did my best, I did my utmost best in terms of project delivery, in terms of contributing to the work of Parliament and contributing to the national debate… The second term has even been more successful because it is my own government that is ruling the country now and I have had the privilege of being part of the government in the capacity as a Deputy Minister of Energy in charge of Finance and Infrastructure.
“I believe we’ve done well and going forward there is more to do, at both the national level and contribution to development of western region as well as contribution to the development of Effia Constituency and positioning the constituency on the national plan….”