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ECG, Passport Office revenue up after digitization agenda – Bawumia
Vice President Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia has said that the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG) has increased its annual revenue from 450 million cedis to 1.2 million cedis after the power distribution company went digital.
He also said that the passport office has seen a significant change in its revenue mobilization, from 1 million cedis to 64 million cedis. This indicates that the digitization process by the government has reduced corruption.
Speaking at the National Development Conference under the theme “Moral Vision and National Development,” Dr. Bawumia said that Ghana’s digitization drive has drastically reduced corruption.
He said that state agencies such as ECG and the passport office have seen a significant improvement in their revenues over the past few years. This, he said, is a result of the digitization agenda introduced into their systems.
Dr. Bawumia noted that ECG recorded a constant revenue monthly for four years, which was not correlating with the rise in customers.
He added that, the power distribution company was making 450 million cedis monthly, but after the digitization drive, the revenue has gone up to over 1.2 million cedis adding that this is an indication of how the digitization drive has reduced corruption and increased monthly revenue.
The Vice President explained that same was replicated at the passport office, which was initially making 1 million cedis monthly but has now moved to 65 million cedis.
“In times past, it used to be easy to lie about your age and get away with it, particularly in the government sector. At the port, for instance, we have introduced the paperless system, and this came with resistance. Some of the custom officers organized demonstrations against the move, but we were firm on our stance. Today, at the offices of ECG, you can buy your credit without any challenges.”
“The challenges with ECG initially were that the revenues of ECG were constant and the values were the same. We looked at the architecture of revenue of ECG and we changed it. They were collecting 450 million cedis a month as revenue. We sent in a team to work on their system. There were sabotage attempts, such as people sending viruses into the system to destroy our work, but we were resilient and brought in a whole new architecture for ECG. Today, they make over 1 million cedis as revenues monthly. The same happened at the passport office, which was making 1 million cedis to over 65 million cedis.”
Former Presidents John Agyekum Kufuor and John Dramani Mahama also spoke at the conference, highlighting the importance of holding on to our values as Africans.
Former President Mahama expressed concerns over the issues of traditional values and the adoption of alien cultures from other countries that have taken over our Ghanaian space. He charged Ghanaians to go back to the basics, where some key Ghanaian values were upheld in our societies.
“As Ghanaians, we have thrown away our values. Today, our cities are so dirty. When we were children and growing up, we used to wake up early in the morning and sweep our compounds. But today, that is not the case. Today, society is not concerned about how we make money and the manner in which we make them. Greed and theft have taken over our space, and people who are engaged in that are celebrated, yet society is not concerned.”
Former President Kufuor, on the other hand, raised issues of morality in our Ghanaian society. He charged that morality must be treated with the needed importance in the Ghanaian space, adding that development can be justified in terms of its service regardless of tribe, religion, ideology, gender, or wealth.
ECG, Passport Office revenue up after digitization agenda – Bawumia
byCalvis Tetteh July 27, 2023 Reading Time: 3 mins read
Vice President Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia has said that the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG) has increased its annual revenue from 450 million cedis to 1.2 million cedis after the power distribution company went digital.
He also said that the passport office has seen a significant change in its revenue mobilization, from 1 million cedis to 64 million cedis. This indicates that the digitization process by the government has reduced corruption.
Speaking at the National Development Conference under the theme “Moral Vision and National Development,” Dr. Bawumia said that Ghana’s digitization drive has drastically reduced corruption.
He said that state agencies such as ECG and the passport office have seen a significant improvement in their revenues over the past few years. This, he said, is a result of the digitization agenda introduced into their systems.
Dr. Bawumia noted that ECG recorded a constant revenue monthly for four years, which was not correlating with the rise in customers.
He added that, the power distribution company was making 450 million cedis monthly, but after the digitization drive, the revenue has gone up to over 1.2 million cedis adding that this is an indication of how the digitization drive has reduced corruption and increased monthly revenue.
The Vice President explained that same was replicated at the passport office, which was initially making 1 million cedis monthly but has now moved to 65 million cedis.
“In times past, it used to be easy to lie about your age and get away with it, particularly in the government sector. At the port, for instance, we have introduced the paperless system, and this came with resistance. Some of the custom officers organized demonstrations against the move, but we were firm on our stance. Today, at the offices of ECG, you can buy your credit without any challenges.”
“The challenges with ECG initially were that the revenues of ECG were constant and the values were the same. We looked at the architecture of revenue of ECG and we changed it. They were collecting 450 million cedis a month as revenue. We sent in a team to work on their system. There were sabotage attempts, such as people sending viruses into the system to destroy our work, but we were resilient and brought in a whole new architecture for ECG. Today, they make over 1 million cedis as revenues monthly. The same happened at the passport office, which was making 1 million cedis to over 65 million cedis.”
Former Presidents John Agyekum Kufuor and John Dramani Mahama also spoke at the conference, highlighting the importance of holding on to our values as Africans.
Former President Mahama expressed concerns over the issues of traditional values and the adoption of alien cultures from other countries that have taken over our Ghanaian space. He charged Ghanaians to go back to the basics, where some key Ghanaian values were upheld in our societies.
“As Ghanaians, we have thrown away our values. Today, our cities are so dirty. When we were children and growing up, we used to wake up early in the morning and sweep our compounds. But today, that is not the case. Today, society is not concerned about how we make money and the manner in which we make them. Greed and theft have taken over our space, and people who are engaged in that are celebrated, yet society is not concerned.”
Former President Kufuor, on the other hand, raised issues of morality in our Ghanaian society. He charged that morality must be treated with the needed importance in the Ghanaian space, adding that development can be justified in terms of its service regardless of tribe, religion, ideology, gender, or wealth.
“In the grips of technological advancement around the world, mankind seems to be losing the sense of itself and sadly of its creator, the almighty God. Thus, the word morals, which must equate with humanity, is taken for granted. A forum such as this must refocus our society and infuse and integrate morality in our search for proper development.”
Chief Justice Gertrude Torkornoo also addressed the gathering, indicating that there is a need for justice to prevail in all facets of Ghanaian life to ensure a peaceful coexistence among all manner of persons irrespective of their standings.
Meanwhile, Chairman of the Church of Pentecost Apostle Eric Nyamekye indicated the need for corruption to be dealt with by enacting laws that will deal with the menace. He noted that laws must not only be enacted, but the character, values, and competence of the nation must also be checked.
Source: Citinewsroom.com
The Member of Parliament for Nsawam Adoagyiri, Frank Annoh Dompreh, has expressed concern over delays in the release of the District Assemblies Common Fund, warning that the situation is stalling development across the country.
On his facebook page, he described as a matter of urgent national importance, the Minority Chief Whip pointed to what he sees as a growing crisis of unpaid contractors, abandoned projects, and halted infrastructure works in many districts.
He noted that several communities are grappling with half completed schools, unfinished health facilities, abandoned markets, deteriorating roads, and stalled sanitation projects.
According to him, many contractors who have executed projects for district assemblies have not been paid, forcing some construction firms to demobilise from sites while workers lose their jobs.
He stressed that the District Assemblies Common Fund is not a discretionary allocation but a constitutional requirement under Article 252 of the 1992 Constitution, intended to support development at the local level.
In his view, years of delayed releases and accumulated arrears have weakened district development financing and disrupted projects meant to improve living conditions in communities.
He further argued that some payments made in recent years were largely the settlement of old debts rather than funding for new or ongoing projects, a situation he believes has affected contractor confidence and local economic activity.
He described the issue as more than a budgetary challenge, characterising it as a development emergency and a governance concern.
He therefore urged the appropriate authorities to pay outstanding DACF arrears, settle contractors who have completed their work, and ensure that transfers to districts are automatic and predictable.
He maintained that decentralisation can only succeed when district assemblies receive adequate and timely funding to carry out development projects.
He emphasised that stalled projects directly affect ordinary citizens, since they rely on such infrastructure for education, healthcare, transportation, sanitation, and economic activities.
He called for renewed attention to grassroots development, insisting that national progress should not be concentrated only in major cities but extended to all communities.
By: Jacob Aggrey
Richard Appiah, the footballer who killed two children and stored part of their bodies in a fridge at Abesim in the Bono Region in 2021 has been handed a lifetime sentence.
This was after a five member panel of judges at the Accra High Court returned a verdict of guilty against the convict.
Appiah, 32, also a draughtsman would spend the rest of his life in prison after he was convicted of murder.
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BY MALIK SULLEMANA
