Vice President Bawumia
The Vice President, Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia, has urged heads of state agencies to adopt a more efficient use of public resources in order to maximise the values of what has been entrusted to them.
Speaking at the closing ceremony of a retreat for board chairpersons, heads and deputy heads of government institutions at Nkwatia-Kwahu in the Eastern Region, on Sunday, Dr. Bawumia told the heads of state institutions that state agencies have crucial roles to play in Ghana’s quest for less reliance on foreign support.
“As heads of institutions, we have a responsibility to constantly represent the Ghanaian people in a transparent and accountable manner,” Dr. Bawumia said, adding “it is our responsibility to always maximise the value of what has been entrusted to us for the benefit of everybody.”
The Vice President said the Ghana Beyond Aid agenda is a long-term project requiring enormous resources from both the public and commercial sectors.
He urged the heads of institutions to “harness and use the country’s own resources to transform the economy effectively and efficiently for a rapid, but a sustainable growth path.”
Building Technological Capabilities
The Vice President also implored the heads of state institutions to apply the government’s digitisation agenda to contribute effectively towards the economic transformation of the country.
“To achieve the vision of Ghana Beyond Aid in the shortest possible time, we need to improve our technology capabilities,” Dr. Bawumia said, adding “there is a global paradigm shift, and we must not be left behind in this 4th Industrial Revolution.”
“This has been my primary inspiration for the digitisation agenda; that is, to apply technological innovation to transform the ways and means by which we engage in our everyday production and exchange of economic activities. Whether at home, at our offices, farm and factory, whether it is person to person, person to business, business to business, or person and business to government, transparency and efficiency are our watchwords.
“Our economic transformation can best be aided by digital transformation to overcome some of our development challenges.
“For example, our use of drone technology in the delivery of medical supplies has helped us to overcome many challenges in the delivery of health care services to the people who live far in the rural areas and far from urban centres,” he disclosed.
The Vice President further said that “when we apply technological innovations to the passport office, to DVLA, to the distribution of pre-mix fuel and fertilisers, we are improving on our production and service delivery capabilities to transform the economy,” adding “that is why as heads of public institutions we take this opportunity to implore each one of you to join us in this transformation. Somewhere in your organisation, somewhere in your production and delivery of services for a fee, technological innovation and digital transformation procedures can lift the performance of your organisation, or help the organisation overcome the obstacles we have faced for several years. It is all in innovations of processes, procedures and data management.”
The Vice President said “the most serious threat to the nation’s security is unemployment. The Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo government has made significant progress in resolving this issue. But there’s a lot more that must be done. The challenge is real and your role in tackling the unemployment quandary cannot be overemphasised.”
“As heads of institutions, if you can expand your scope of operation for maximum returns and profitability, to be able to recruit the youth to tackle this heinous joblessness among the nation’s youth, we will have made significant progress in providing jobs for our youth.
“Let us show the Ghanaian people how grateful we are for the opportunity to serve our country. Let us add value to the public sector,” he concluded.