In a heated discussion on Atinka TV’s morning show “Ghana Nie,” hosted by Bernard Lav, former Director of IT for the National Democratic Congress (NDC) and former National Identification Authority (NIA) boss, Osei Kwame Griffiths, made bold claims regarding the digitalization efforts in Ghana.
Griffiths asserted that former President John Dramani Mahama has made more significant strides towards the digitalization of the country compared to the current administration, which he accused of paying lip service to the cause. He emphasized that the digital systems, including the one that issued the first GHANA Card to President Nana Akufo-Addo in September 2027, were initiated and accepted by the nation under his leadership in December 2016.
“There was a problem with the Kuffour system we inherited,” Griffiths stated.
“It was capturing chairs instead of humans and taking only four digits instead of ten, leading to issues like double registrations. In the Ashanti Region, some persons were registered as amputees, meaning they couldn’t go through any biometric verifications. The system was flawed.”
Griffiths questioned the achievements of the current administration in this domain, asking, “What have they done to be given this glory? What have they done, tell me.”
In response, a member of the National Communications Team of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Solomon Assante, defended the administration, particularly highlighting Vice President Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia’s contributions. Assante insisted that the digitalization accomplishments of Dr. Bawumia could not be overshadowed.
By: Ebenezer Madugu