Vice President Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia’s recent commissioning of Ghana’s e-gate system at the Kotoka International Airport has ignited a firestorm of criticism.
Many observers have pointed out that this is not a novel achievement but rather a repackaging of a project first launched in 2015 and relaunched in 2018.
The pomp surrounding the event has been described by policy analyst Bright Simons as emblematic of a troubling phenomenon in governance—state enchantment.
The Honorary Vice President of IMANI Centre for Policy and Education, in an extensive study of the governance and policy trends in Ghana, strongly argued that state enchantment turns the theory of government accountability on its head.
“The general theory of government accountability is that sometimes governments do things that are not in the interest of the people. But they do it because senior politicians or their friends benefit. So they try to cover things up.
“They hide information, overwhelm us with jargon, or deflect. Sometimes governments mess up. They are usually not proud of the mess. They go to great lengths to avoid talking about it”.
Bright Simons, Honorary Vice President of IMANI Centre for Policy and Education
He pointed out that in 2015, Ghana received a fully functional electronic immigration system from a foreign government at nearly no cost. Despite its utility, the system was discarded, with officials declaring it an affront to national sovereignty. Instead of enhancing and localizing the free system, the government embarked on an entirely new venture.
According to Bright Simons, the World Bank subsequently funded the development of a $16 million e-immigration system featuring biometric e-gates, AFIS, SBMS, and VMS integrations.
“The truth was that big Ministers and bosses at the Presidency were squabbling over the project. Different favoured contractors were circling. Like most important things, cooperation across multiple departments was required.
When big contracts are at stake, forget such niceties. So, the World Bank’s $20m system, glowing reports notwithstanding, just went down the drain. Poof”
Bright Simons, Honorary Vice President of IMANI Centre for Policy and Education
A Tale of Two Systems
Bright Simons further posited that this week’s e-gate commissioning raises serious questions, asserting that the newly installed e-gates, developed by a contractor already involved in Ghana’s controversial national ID system, came with a hefty $240 million price tag.
He argued that the system, expected to generate a $28 million profit margin, will be financed through taxes and airport service fees.
“A perfectly good $20 million World Bank system was abandoned for a $240 million replacement. The World Bank’s glowing reports meant nothing. The lower-cost solution never stood a chance against the more lucrative option for favored contractors.”
Bright Simons, Honorary Vice President of IMANI Centre for Policy and Education
He emphasized that the victorious contractor is the same firm behind the Ghana Card system, a project designed to generate $1.6 billion in revenue, shared between the contractor and the National Identification Authority.
Bright Simons strongly opined that this pattern reflects a troubling prioritization of profit over public interest.
The Role of Ghana’s Elite
While the IMANI’s Honorary Vice President sarcastically refrained from blaming the contractors or even the politicians driving these initiatives, he cast a critical eye on Ghana’s elite. He accused them of being too easily “enchanted” by government spectacles.
“If you have a degree, a managerial job, or earn more than GHS 2,000 a month, you are part of the elite,” Bright Simons declared, adding “And you have a duty to resist enchantment regardless of which party is in power.”
He described the commissioning ceremony as a distraction, designed to obscure the waste of the World Bank’s $20 million system. The government, he said, banks on the average Ghanaian elite’s lack of interest in digging beneath the surface.
Bright Simons called for a shift in focus from superficial achievements to genuine accountability. The e-gate saga, he argued, exemplifies how lucrative projects are prioritized over cost-effective solutions, often to the detriment of the nation.
“The average Ghanaian must begin to probe beyond the glamour,” he insisted. The criticisms surrounding the e-gate project are a wake-up call.
With rising public debt and persistent economic challenges, Ghanaians—especially the elite—must demand more from their leaders. Beyond the glitz of ribbon-cutting ceremonies lies the responsibility to scrutinize and hold officials accountable for their decisions.
For Bright Simons and several other civil activists alike, the e-gate commissioning is not just about a single project but a broader reflection of governance in Ghana—a cycle of enchantment that must be broken.
Until then, the nation risks losing millions to unnecessary ventures while basic needs remain unmet.
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