Vice President Mahamudu Bawumia
At a time when the hallmarks of ignorance appear to be holding sway in the life of the country, interventions such as we were privileged to have from Vice President Mahamudu Bawumia last Tuesday was eye-opening.
The digitization project which has expectedly become synonymous with the name Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia as the theme of the address, is a driving force for the economy of the country as it is globally.
It is for this reason that the announcement about last Tuesday’s public address on the subject meant so much for the citizens of this country safe those who have carried political opposition beyond sensible levels.
As we waited for the date it was like doing so ahead of a State Of The Nation Address the expected management of such subjects exciting most Ghanaians knowing the pedigree of the man going to mount the rostrum.
We have overnight been engulfed by the countless merits of digitization the impact of which are enormous and beyond cheap mischief by good-for-nothing politicians.
Having taken the merits of digitization on our everyday activities for granted we hardly consider the hard work of the originator whose passion for that path has made it all possible.
Upon the announcement about the digitization address making the headlines the cynics sprang into action. They asked ‘what has digitization got to do with the economy and why has the politician and economist abandoned the former for the latter?’
Of course such a question smacks of ignorance about the impact of digitization on the economy.
The response from Vice President Mahamudu Bawumia was just apt ‘Far from abandoning economics, the reality is that in this era, if you don’t digitize you will not have much of an economy, PERIOD! Indeed, digital policy is economic policy!’
This by all standards knocks off and settles the doubts being spawned by ignorance.
No country can afford to be left out of the global digitization project which has already gathered momentum in the other hemisphere.
It takes persons of vision to see beyond the antiquated method of managing economies and to join in the mainstream of digitization.
The many merits of digitization are being felt in myriad forms in the economy. The mobile phone operability regime has enabled the economy to derive so much from mobile money transactions the accompanying taxes to the state too critical to be overemphasized.
When the Vice President mooted the idea about a cashless economy via digitization it all sounded futuristic. Now that it has come to pass the doubts have cleared and everybody, cynics and others are relishing the benefits of digitization.
The magic of the Ghanacard has not peaked yet as the Vice President mentioned the e-Passport and many other deals.
Digitisation will only be rubbished by those who have made ignorance and cynicism the cornerstone of their political practice.
Very soon delegations from other African countries will set foot here to learn about the digisitation project and shake hands with the man behind it all, Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia. Let us give credit where this is due.