The Ghanian Vice President Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia says his anticipated victory in Saturday’s NPP flagbearership contest, will be a victory for the entire NPP party. The NPP brings a hot contest, which started with 10 people, to a close on Saturday, with 4 people left in the race.
Vice President Bawumia is widely tipped to emerge victorious with a wide margin, and ahead of the elections, he said it will be a victory for all because it is an internal election to choose a leader for the party.
“Throughout my campaign, dear friends, I also stressed on the need for a decent campaign devoid of rancour, in order to preserve the unity of our party. I demonstrated this value, by embarking on a campaign devoid of insults and personality attacks. As I stressed throughout my interactions with delegates across the country, I am committed to the unity of the NPP, and I as the party’s flagbearer, will bring everybody on board,” Dr. Bawumia said.
Vice President Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia
“We are a party of different people from different backgrounds with different preferences. But in our differences we are indivisible. With this in mind, I have been presenting a message that fosters unity, inspires hope and confidence, and positions the NPP as the best to lead Ghana.”
After an intense campaign, which took him to constituencies across the country, he expressed optimism that he will be victorious on Saturday – a victory he said “will be for the NPP.”
“Throughout the process, I have come to know the party people even better. There are many fond memories of this journey that will go a long way to deepen the respect, love and harmony between me and the party people.”
“Having put up a spirited campaign backed by a dedicated team of brilliant and hardworking young men and women across the country, I have nothing but absolute confidence that I will be victorious on Saturday, November 4th. And my victory will be the victory for the NPP.”
Dr. Bawumia used the occasion to express gratitude to NPP delegates and all party stakeholders across the country for their warm welcome during his interactions with them at their various constituencies.
He also thanked the media for their professional coverage of his campaign since he announced his candidature.
Kelechi Deca
Kelechi Deca has over two decades of media experience, he has traveled to over 77 countries reporting on multilateral development institutions, international business, trade, travels, culture, and diplomacy. He is also a petrol head with in-depth knowledge of automobiles and the auto industry
Ghana is set for the historic issuance of National Identification numbers, better known as Ghana Card numbers, to newborn babies in Ghana. This was made known by the Vice President of Ghana , Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia.
This follows the successful integration of the databases of the Births and Deaths Registry, the National Identification Authority and the Ghana Health Service.
The Vice President, who made the disclosure on Saturday July 22, 2023 said the first such Ghana Card number was issued to a newborn baby on Friday, July 21, 2023 after a successful test run of the system.
“The work of integrating the databases has been completed, The full test was done yesterday, and i am happy to say that the first Ghana Card number for a baby was issued yesterday.
Vice President of Ghana , Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia
“So from next month, all babies born in Ghana, once they take them to Weigh In, they will be issued the Ghana Card number and also get their Birth Certificate Identification number at the same time, because the two databases are talking to each other.”
“This is very transformational,” Dr Bawumia noted, explaining that they will have these numbers from the time they are babies till they pass away.
Officials of the National Identification Authority (NIA) say cards bearing the biometrics and other data will be issued to the children when they are older, after their digits and other features are fully formed.
Speaking in Cape Coast at the 75th Anniversary celebrations of Ghana National College, Dr Bawumia emphasized that the issuance of ID numbers at birth was an integral part of Government’s ongoing digitalization agenda, designed to prepare the nation to fully partake in the Fourth Industrial Revolution.
The Ghana Card is increasingly becoming the single source of proof of identity, with the unique number serving several purposes including as the Social Security, Health Insurance and Tax Identification number.
Hailing the impact Ghana National College has had on Ghana’s pre-and post colonial life, Vice President Bawumia challenged managements, staff and students in educational institutions to embrace the possibilities offered by Artificial Intelligence (AI) to improve teaching, problem solving and critical thinking, noting that it could be deployed meaningfully to bridge the gap between the developed and developing world.
“If we are in agreement that the boys and girls in our schools today are being trained to compete on the global stage, there is every justification for our students to be given exposure to AI.
“Government’s ongoing digitalization agenda is ample testimony of its appreciation of AI and the commitment to ensure that this country is not left behind. We have focused on pursuing digitalisation as part of our economic strategy because the Fourth Industrial Revolution is upon us and we must be part of the modern world…
“Whilst Government will do its part by leading the charting of a pathway to the deployment of meaningful AI in our national life, I expect our educational authorities to devise and deploy innovative teaching strategies that factor in ICT as a key ingredient,” he added.
Kelechi Deca
Kelechi Deca has over two decades of media experience, he has traveled to over 77 countries reporting on multilateral development institutions, international business, trade, travels, culture, and diplomacy. He is also a petrol head with in-depth knowledge of automobiles and the auto industr
The Ghanaian Vice President, Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia, has said the on-going economic crisis sweeping through the world must be a wake up call to African countries to adopt a technological approach to development, especially as the continent seeks to rebuild and rise.
Addressing a high-level African Union-backed “BOMA” event (www.africaboma.com), he cautioned against focusing on the short-term symptoms of the current crisis and forgetting the structural issues that the worst-hit countries are confronted, which are mostly to do with the lack of competitiveness of their economies. A situation only technological advancement can address sustainably.
Ghanaian Vice President, Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia
The Boma forum brought together global political and business leaders to deliberate on the progress of Africa towards Agenda 2063, the AU’s timetable for transforming Africa into a global economic force.
Vice President Bawumia said the twin factors influencing the global economic crisis – the COVID-19 Pandemic and the Ukraine conflict – have exposed gaps in the world’s economic and political architecture, which will affect Africa’s quest for growth, if the continent does not act decisively to build technological industries that are more resilient to global economic shocks. It is clear that countries that depend mostly on primary industries suffer harsher consequences when the global economy takes a nosedive than those that have diversified their economies through higher technology inputs.
“The challenges that have beset the global economy may have been fuelled by temporary crises such as the COVID-19 pandemic and the Ukraine conflict. But these challenges are still a wakeup call to Africa that there are deep structural gaps in the global economic and political architecture that can frustrate its rise, unless serious concerted efforts are made to plug them,” Dr. Bawumia told the forum on Friday.
Plugging the structural gap, Dr. Bawumia observed, is for the African continent to adopt the emerging data-driven, technological approaches to development, which would help create the right structure for African businesses and SMEs and connect them from isolation, to the world of business.
Urging fellow African countries on, Dr. Bawumia noted that Ghana has chosen to take a path to economic development marked by increasing technological, especially digital, content in its development programs.
Responding to Meta’s (corporate parent of Facebook) President for Global Affairs and former Deputy Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, Sir Nick Clegg, Dr. Bawumia conceded to certain ongoing challenges to optimally harness data, talent and improved regulations to advance the course of technological advancement in Ghana and Africa. But he insisted that these matters are being given the necessary attention. Elaborating on the theme, he added, “if the massive shifts currently underway, such as the fast emergence of a new type of internet, are to benefit, rather than further marginalize Africa, the continent must make the right investments now.”
He continued: “We are very mindful of these potential pitfalls and are investing in both the institutions and infrastructure that will enable us to both leapfrog our infrastructure and education system limits and rapidly advance the regulatory capabilities we need to deal with complex challenges like balancing sovereignty and efficiency, as we become a data-driven economy.”
Dr. Bawumia, while acknowledging efforts some African countries are making in adopting technology-driven development, also shared with the forum some specific areas Ghana has invested in, and how they are expected to boost commerce.
“We have successfully developed new identity infrastructure that will transform credit scoring for SMEs, remove the bottlenecks in e-commerce and lay the ground for the modernization of business supportive government services,” he said.
“We have totally transformed the financial technology landscape and reworked our mobile telecom industry to enable us take advantage of the 5G revolution and the internet of things as they gather pace.”
No one who has followed our policy journey in Ghana can doubt our total commitment to the technological approach to development,” added the Vice President.
In addition to Sir Nicholas Clerg, who is the President of Global Affairs of Meta, owners of popular social media sites Facebook and Instagram, the Forum was also addressed by former US President Clinton, former US Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton and many other dignitaries including the Director General of the World Health Organisation and the Deputy Secretary General of the United Nations. Also participating were several former and serving African Heads of States, the Deputy Chairperson of the African Union (AU), and a number of AU Commissioners.
Reacting to comments by some of these eminent personalities, Dr. Bawumia emphasised the importance of a global mindset shift in technology investments. “The likes of Meta, Google and Amazon must think beyond consumer products and targeted advertising and invest heavily in utility infrastructure on the ground.”
He added, “their ability to connect with their customers beyond Facebook posts and tweets and to impact their lives depend on this deeper integration into industrial and enterprise infrastructure. There are also broader issues of equity.”
“As much as we recognize that some of the evolving technologies are changing how we do business and bringing down barriers, they also provide the opportunity for us to create the fluid structures and soft infrastructure our SMEs and startups, long isolated from global value chains, need to leapfrog and convert these challenges into opportunities in a broader marketplace shaped by AfCFTA.”
Kelechi Deca
Kelechi Deca has over two decades of media experience, he has traveled to over 77 countries reporting on multilateral development institutions, international business, trade, travels, culture, and diplomacy. He is also a petrol head with in-depth knowledge of automobiles and the auto industry
