Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia, flagbearer of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), says that digitalisation is the key to combating corruption in Ghana, citing the significant impact of the Ghana card on the public sector payroll.

According to him, the introduction of the Ghana card has provided a unique identity for 18 million adult Ghanaians, enabling the detection and elimination of ghost workers and pensioners, and resulting in substantial savings for the country.

Speaking during a media engagement on Sunday, August 25, 2024, Dr. Bawumia expressed confidence in the effectiveness of digitalisation in tackling corruption, stating that it has helped address long-standing issues.

He highlighted the identification and elimination of 29,000 ghost pensioners by SSNIT, saving GH¢400 million, and the detection of 44,000 ghost service personnel by the National Service Secretariat, saving over GH¢350 million.

The NPP flagbearer noted that digitalisation has enabled the elimination of all ghost workers on the Controller and Accountant General’s payroll, marking a significant advancement in the fight against corruption.

“Digitalisation holds the key to dealing with corruption. When I look at the impact of the Ghana card on the public sector payroll, it gives me a lot of confidence that we are on the right path to deal with corruption ex-anti. The Ghana card provides a unique identity that by fingerprint for every adult Ghanaian so far, we’ve issued 18 million Ghana cards so far.”

“When we look at SSNIT for example, when they look through their pensioner and tried to make sure that everybody had a unique identity on the payroll. They found out 29,000 ghost pensioners, just because of the Ghana card and that saved SSNIT almost 400 million Ghana cedis.”

“National Service Secretariat found 44,000 ghost service personnel, saving over 350 million cedis. using digitalisation and the Ghana card, we’ve been able to eliminate all ghost workers on the controller and Accountant payroll and that’s a major advancement in the fight against corruption because these are the things that have been there for a very long time, but digitalisation is helping us to deal with it.”