Digitization Of Passport Acquisition Generated Over GH¢56m For Ghana In 2021 – Bawumia
The Vice President, Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia has lauded the New Patriotic Party (NPP) government on its digitization drive.
He said the digitization of some state agencies has helped the government generate sizeable profits over the past few years.
Citing the acquisition of passports as an example, Dr. Bawumia said government generated a revenue of GH¢56m in 2021.
“If you take the Passport Office for instance, in 2017 there were about 16,000 applications for passports generating about Ghs1m. But with the advent of digitization, there were over 498,000 online applications in 2021, generating over GH¢56m. Similar things are happening at the DVLA, the ports, and other institutions.
“Recently, due to the introduction of e-tickets, we recorded the highest gate proceeds from a football match in Ghana. We will continue to shine the light of transparency in all aspects of national life,” Vice President disclosed during the 2022 edition of the Annual Conference of the Institute of Internal Auditors – Ghana in Accra.
He continued “Already, we are seeing the impacts of these initiatives including efficient public service delivery by all Ministries, Departments and Agencies on the Ghana.gov portal, combatting corruption by removing the middle-man and “ghost names” in many transactions, bringing more Ghanaians into the formal sector, and driving domestic revenue mobilization, among others.”
Vice President Bawumia also urged the Internal Auditors to utilize their position toward nation building particularly in the fight against corruption.
“In tune with the mission of the Institute of Internal Auditors, the internal audit function must be well-positioned to help organizations accomplish their objectives by providing insight and foresight. This, must be achieved by adopting the systematic disciplined approach to evaluate and improve the effectiveness of risk management, control and governance.
“As internal auditors in a digitalized economy, your ability to provide independent assurance that public sector institutions’ risk management, governance and internal control processes are operating effectively depends first and foremost on your embracing and adoption of digital technology. It is critical for those responsible for governance to embrace digitalization for survival and growth,” he urged the Auditors.