Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia, Ghana’s Vice President, has stated that the next phase of Ghana’s digitalization push will be to establish itself as Africa’s first blockchain-powered government to tackle corruption.
Bawumia said this at the 14th Regional Conference and Annual General Meeting of Commonwealth Anti-Corruption Agencies in Accra.
Blockchain technology is often touted as revolutionary in a variety of fields, including global politics. This technology can identify and record any changes to digital data, providing a visible and verifiable record of transactions in the sphere of governance.
According to Ghanaweb, Bawumia hopes that this improvement will increase openness and help the government tackle corruption more effectively.
The technology’s automation features have the potential to save Ghana and the continent billions of dollars in lost revenue due to corruption, poor governance, mismanagement, and a lack of accountability.
Ghana’s debt issue highlights the need for accountability and prevention of misappropriation of public monies in order to stabilize the economy.
Bawumia noted the ghana.gov portal, a one-stop platform for paying for public services electronically and enabling the government to collect GH¢201 billion by 2020, among other digital initiatives done by the administration since 2017.
Similarly, the digitization of passport acquisition processes resulted in a significant increase in applications, from 347,000 to 752,000. Additionally, income increased from GH¢12 million to GH¢94 million between 2018 and 2023.
Using the GhanaCard to integrate public sector databases, the Controller and Accountant General’s Department removed 29,000 ‘ghost’ pensioners from the public sector payroll, saving the country GH¢480 million annually.
The GhanaCard, a unique identity card, helped the government uncover 44,707 ghost identities on the National Service Scheme payroll, saving GH¢356 million.
He urged African anti-corruption agencies to prioritize investment in digital forensics and tools to help monitor, trace, and disrupt the corruption value chain.
The Vice President stated that Ghana might fight corruption more effectively if the Central Bank ultimately implemented the Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC), also known as the e-Cedi.