Vice President of Ghana and Flagbearer of the New Patriotic Party, Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia
The Vice President and Presidential Candidate of the NPP, Dr Mahamudu Bawumia, has reiterated his commitment to building a modern and inclusive country anchored by systems and data.
In an interaction with members of Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) in Accra last night, Dr. Bawumia assured them of his quest, as President, to ensure good governance, transparency and inclusiveness.
“I want to build a country of inclusiveness with good governance and transparency that all of you care about,” Dr. Bawumia said.
Dr Bawumia added that to build a modern country which ensures inclusion, transparency and good governance, there is the need to put in place systems for a seamless transition, hence his focus on putting in place some structures over the past years.
“When we came into office, I started focusing on building the systems that will ensure transparency,” Dr. Bawumia said, explaining that in a 2010 book, he had recommended the building of these systems: digital identity, property address system and financial inclusion, as the key systems which developing countries must build for economic transformation.
“This is why when I had the opportunity as Vice President, I focused on getting these systems in place as an anchor of our digitalisation drive, which would eventually impact our economic transformation.”
Dr. Bawumia explained that with the issuance of Ghanacard addressing the issue of lack of identity, the digital address system addressing lack of proper address and mobile money interoperability resolving financial inclusion, Ghana had built a strong digital system, which made it possible for digitalisation of public services.
Hopefully, under his presidency, Dr. Bawumia told the CSOs how he intends to build on these systems to, especially, ensure greater inclusion, transparency and deal with corruption, in his quest for economic transformation.
“Digitalisation ensures greater inclusion, as we have seen with mobile money interoperability and the removal of human contacts in so many things.”
“It also ensures transparency and wants to have a very transparent government. I want every government transaction to be traceable and cannot be erased.”
“This is why I believe we have to implement a blockchain e-government system. The UAE, for instance, is using blockchain, and I want Ghana to be the first country in Africa to introduce blockchain. This will make it possible for greater transparency in our governance system.”
“I’m a problem solver by nature, and I like dealing with problems. I believe that what the advanced countries have done, we can do even better.”