[Ghana] Government fighting corruption with blockchain technology

In Ghana, Vice President Dr Mahamudu Bawumia has announced that the next stage of the country’s digitalisation journey is to become the first blockchain-powered government in Africa, to fight corruption, GNA reports.

Blockchain technology can identify and find changes in digital data to trace transactions in the governance space.

Dr Bawumia reportedly said he believed its adoption would promote transparency and enable the Government to fight corruption.

The Vice President announced the move at the 14th Regional Conference and Annual General Meeting of Heads of Anti-Corruption Agencies in Commonwealth Africa, in Accra on May 9.

The week-long conference is on the theme: “Strengthening Institutions and Promoting Transparency: A Means of Fighting Corruption in Commonwealth Africa”. It will see 20 Commonwealth African countries explore ways to make corruption on the continent less attractive and promote wealth creation.

Dr Bawumia highlighted several digital initiatives the Government has implemented since 2017 that have led to positive outcomes for the nation.

The ghana.gov portal - a one-stop platform for paying public services electronically - had enabled the government to collect GHc201 billion since 2020 he said. 

The digitalisation of passport applications has led to applications increasing from 347,000 to 752,000, according to the Passport Office, and seen revenues climb from GHc12 million to GHc94 million between 2018 and 2023.

While integrating public sector databases through the use of GhanaCard had reportedly enabled the Controller and Accountant General’s Department to expunge 29,000 ‘ghost’ pensioners from the public sector payroll, saving the nation GHC480 million annually.

Dr Bawumia said introducing a unique identity card (GhanaCard) allowed the Government to detect 44,707 ghost names on the National Service Scheme payroll and saved the nation GHc356 million.

He reportedly urged Anti-Corruption Agencies in Africa to invest in digital forensics and tools to help them track, trace and distract the corruption value chain.

The Vice President said Ghana could fight corruption more efficiently if the Central Bank would introduce the Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC); the eCedi.

“The eCedi will be our ultimate weapon in our fight against corruption because it will make it easy to track the movements of money and identify suspicious activities,” he said.

In addition, it would enable the Bank of Ghana to ensure high-level transparency and reduce the risk of fraud, tax avoidance and money laundering.

Source: GNA

(Quotes via original reporting)

In Ghana, Vice President Dr Mahamudu Bawumia has announced that the next stage of the country’s digitalisation journey is to become the first blockchain-powered government in Africa, to fight corruption, GNA reports.

Blockchain technology can identify and find changes in digital data to trace transactions in the governance space.

Dr Bawumia reportedly said he believed its adoption would promote transparency and enable the Government to fight corruption.

The Vice President announced the move at the 14th Regional Conference and Annual General Meeting of Heads of Anti-Corruption Agencies in Commonwealth Africa, in Accra on May 9.

The week-long conference is on the theme: “Strengthening Institutions and Promoting Transparency: A Means of Fighting Corruption in Commonwealth Africa”. It will see 20 Commonwealth African countries explore ways to make corruption on the continent less attractive and promote wealth creation.

Dr Bawumia highlighted several digital initiatives the Government has implemented since 2017 that have led to positive outcomes for the nation.

The ghana.gov portal - a one-stop platform for paying public services electronically - had enabled the government to collect GHc201 billion since 2020 he said. 

The digitalisation of passport applications has led to applications increasing from 347,000 to 752,000, according to the Passport Office, and seen revenues climb from GHc12 million to GHc94 million between 2018 and 2023.

While integrating public sector databases through the use of GhanaCard had reportedly enabled the Controller and Accountant General’s Department to expunge 29,000 ‘ghost’ pensioners from the public sector payroll, saving the nation GHC480 million annually.

Dr Bawumia said introducing a unique identity card (GhanaCard) allowed the Government to detect 44,707 ghost names on the National Service Scheme payroll and saved the nation GHc356 million.

He reportedly urged Anti-Corruption Agencies in Africa to invest in digital forensics and tools to help them track, trace and distract the corruption value chain.

The Vice President said Ghana could fight corruption more efficiently if the Central Bank would introduce the Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC); the eCedi.

“The eCedi will be our ultimate weapon in our fight against corruption because it will make it easy to track the movements of money and identify suspicious activities,” he said.

In addition, it would enable the Bank of Ghana to ensure high-level transparency and reduce the risk of fraud, tax avoidance and money laundering.

Source: GNA

(Quotes via original reporting)