Ghana's digitization project: What Transparency International said in CPI report

Ghana's digitization has been praised

It is championed by Dr. Bawumia

CPI report states that it will reduce corruption

Transparency International has praised Ghana for adopting digitization as a key policy objective and designing programmes to develop a more digitally accessible public sector and encourage transparency and efficiency, in order to drive growth in all aspects of the country’s economy.

In the 2021 Corruption Perception

Read full article.Index (CPI), Transparency International indicated that Ghana’s digitization projects have the potential to reduce corruption and accelerate economic development.

The CPI report said, evidence from the ongoing digitization projects of the Government of Ghana suggested that automated processes within relevant public institutions, including the Ghana Revenue Authority, had reduced human contacts and was significant to reducing corruption.

The report, however, urged the government to extend electronic services to all Ministries, Departments, and Agencies (MDAs) and also called for the prioritization and digitization of services that were in high demand by citizens.

Transparency International has a mission to stop corruption and promote transparency with the Corruption Perception Index (CPI) being a leading global indicator of public sector corruption - with corruption, democracy, and human rights as its focus.

Ghana, in the 2021 report, failed to make progress in the fight against corruption, maintaining a score of 43 in 2020 for 2021.

Vice President, Alhaji Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia, has been leading Ghana’s digitalization drive. While speaking at the graduation ceremony of the Trinity Theological Seminary in November 2021, Dr. Bawumia noted that the country was building a new system to underpin the economy that would make for greater transparency, promote accountability, and efficiency in every aspect of public interactions.

He said, such a system would minimize incentives to pay bribes and opportunities for corruption in the delivery of public services.

“It is a system where the operations of government institutions are digitized for efficient service delivery,” the Vice President was quoted in a GNA report, adding that it was a system that was formalizing the informal sector.

Dr. Bawumia continued: “Through digitalization, we have been able to tackle corruption at the: Passport office – online, Ports, GRA – Tax Identification Number is Now the Ghana Card number (4% to 86%), Social Security and National Insurance Trust is now the Ghanacard number, National Health Insurance Scheme number now Ghanacard number, Mobile renewal of NHIS membership, Mobile purchase of electricity credits, Passport being linked to your Ghanacard, Every public sector worker to be uniquely identified by the Ghanacard number – no more double salaries.

“Driver and Vehicle Licensing Authority application now online – a world-class service, Motor Insurance Database, Births and Deaths Registry, Scholarship Secretariat, Ghana.Gov Platform – no leakages of government revenue, Mobile Tax Application for filing taxes, National Common Platform for Property Taxation – digital addresses, Digitalization of medical records and networking of hospitals, Mobile Renewal of NHIS registration, Drone delivery of medical supplies to remote areas.”