By Henrietta Afful
Twitter: @AffulHetty
The Vice President of Ghana, Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia has indicated that the aggressive digitalisation drive embarked upon by the New Patriotic Party-led government has reduced corruption.
Speaking at a Public Lecture organized by the Tertiary Education Confederacy (TESCON), on Thursday, April 7, 2022, the Vice President noted that government can build a vibrant modern nation only on strong systems and institutions.
Giving a brief history of how successive governments have fared in managing the economy, Dr. Bawumia said the focus of economic management teams over the past 65 years has been on crisis management and not on the underlying system that underpins economic activities.
He said the Nana Addo-led government however transformed the economy by leveraging on technological innovations as a means to leapfrog the development process.
“Our strategy since 2017, has been to build a new system through digital transformation”, Dr. Bawumia noted.
Dr. Bawumia said the issuance of the Ghana Card, Digital Address System, and digitalization of the processes of service delivery across many public sectors, are some of the ways the government is transforming the economy.
He said the introduction of the Mobile Money Interoperability and digital payments infrastructure are all boosting e-commerce.
To block the loopholes and leakages, Dr. Bawumia said the introduction of a paperless port system, digitalization of the passport office among others have reduced the time needed to clear goods, acquire a passport, and blocked avenues for corruption.
Dr. Bawumia added that the e-ticking piloted for the Ghana-Nigeria world cup qualifying match in Kumasi yielded the highest revenue in the country’s sports history, noting that, it will soon be extended to all the major stadiums in Ghana.
“Digitization has therefore dealt a severe blow to the corruption involved in the collection of payments by different institutions for government,” Dr. Bawumia said.
The Vice President noted the resultant effect of digitalisation of the country’s economy has been increased revenue mobilization in many sectors.
The event, held at the Pentecost Convention Centre at Gomoa Fetteh was graced by Ghana’s First Lady, Mrs. Rebecca Akufo-Addo, Second Lady Samira Bawumia, other government officials, and NPP Executives.
