Member of Parliament for South Dayi, Rockson-Nelson else Kwami Dafeamekpor, has stated that credit for digitalization cannot be given to the Vice President, Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia.
He credited Victor Selormey for the computerization of Hana’s public system instead.
Honorable Dafeamekpor stated that what the Vice President has done is to give a different name to it.
“Now you give different nomenclature to computerization of our public service system and you say you want to take credit for it. People like Victor Selormey went to jail when they introduced computerization in the mid-90s. You people sit here and say digitalization. The person who started it is Victor Selormey who they [NPP] came to charge him for doing such a marvelous thing in public service. You didn’t understand what he was doing. You thought that he was causing financial loss to the state.”
Rockson-Nelson else Kwami Dafeamekpor
“Bawumia cannot be credited with digitalization”, he stressed.
According to him, those were the beginnings of what can be called the computerization of Ghana’s public service system. He accused the government of only changing the name from computerization to digitization and later to digitalization.
“I am saying [that] it is a nomenclature. It is a synonym!” he buttressed.
He recounted the commencement of the digitalization of Ghana’s public sector and cited examples.
“Digitalization began in the mid-1990s. E-justice as far as 2010, e-justice had been introduced. That was part of the digitalization process. The judiciary service, at the time, placed Justice Apaloo in charge of e-justice; transferring all judgment onto the digital platform. That was digitalization. You recall that as part of the modern court complex which houses the 44 high courts as it sits in Accra now, came with a World Bank facility to advance the e-justice project which began in 2010.”
Rockson-Nelson else Kwami Dafeamekpor
“So how come Bawumia suddenly is being credited for this?”, he quizzed.
Furthermore, Honorable Dafeamekpor believes that the person who should be credited for advancing the digitalization process and project in the country should be His Excellency President John Dramani Mahama.
He emphasized that what Bawumia and this government have done is practically the same thing; the ability to access public service in the digital space.
“We are setting the record straight today that he [Dr. Bawumia] cannot be credited. You may have come to advance it which is what a government is supposed to do but you are not the progenitor of the idea.”
Rockson-Nelson else Kwami Dafeamekpor
Bawumia Is Responsible For Government’s Ills
Also, he said that the NDC has been expectant of the Bawumia candidacy. This is because, according to Mr. Dafeamekpor, he [Bawumia] has been the system candidate and all the electoral processes were geared towards making him the flagbearer.
He stated that the Vice President cannot however disassociate from the ills of this government as he (Bawumia) did to the former Vice President Amissah Arthur.
“Every single lecture he organized he targeted Vice President Amissah Arthur. He organized a lecture and at the end of the day, he issued a communique and attached the contents of the letter by way of 170 questions and remitted it to the office of the then vice president to answer. It became a matter of national interest. Today if you read the content of those 170 questions, is a total reflection of the man who is being sold to us, today to be bought. We won’t buy it. It is an outmoded commodity.”
Rockson-Nelson else Kwami Dafeamekpor
Thus he emphasized that the Vice president is at the center of the mess and any attempt to say otherwise is a fallacy that Ghanaians won’t buy.
He added that Akufo Addo relied on Bawumia’s anticipated expertise which has been disappointing.
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