Vice President and Presidential Candidate of the New Patriotic Party, Dr. Mahamadu Bawumia has revealed that his headlining policy – digitalization despite its impact was initially not part of policies set up by the current government to develop Ghana.
The Presidential Candidate of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), made these remarks at the launch of the Ghana Citizen App today, October 7, in Accra.
He noted that over the past few years the government under the leadership of President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has made remarkable strides through digitalization. “Since 2017, the government of His Excellency President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has set Ghana on a digital transformation journey towards a brighter and more efficient future for our country.”
In his address, the Vice president noted that Ghana has embraced an era which has seen major development in a series of sectors leaving Ghana rest assured of a promising future. “A future where technology empowers our citizens, strengthens our economy, create opportunities and offers a more responsive government.”
However, Dr. Bawumia revealed that digitalization was not considered as a primary policy to be introduced for Ghana’s development. He described digitalization as a ‘peripheral’ concern, to the government which set up a complete development plan without it.
Dr. Bawumia noted that digitalization was railed in by the government as an ‘add-on’ to aid the development agenda and enhance services in key areas such as public administration, trade, education, financial inclusion and health bringing Ghana to speed with the global evolution that has occurred through digitalization and technology. “Several government agencies operated under traditional manual processes across critical sectors which often led to inefficiency, delay and significant bottlenecks in service delivery. The fact is that as the world enters the fourth industrial revolution, it has become no economic strategy can succeed without a strong digital foundation.”