Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia
Some persons would out of shallow-mindedness and sheer partisan political mischief ridicule the visions of visionaries, doing so with such recklessness and passion to make their useless points.
The world has reached where it has today because of the visions of persons who originated game-changing concepts and templates; these have transformed humanity greatly, incomparable to any period in the history of man.
The impact of space engineering and the eventual venture to the orbit and the way these have impacted telecommunications are enormous. These, at the time they were being conceptualised, could not be comprehended by those who regarded them as sheer waste of rare resources and even derided them. Not so those who thought far and found in such technological ventures, game-changers for the future. They have been vindicated by the ease with which mankind communicates today as the Morse system is confined to the bosom of history.
Mobile phones and the attendant digitisation leverages are the actualisation of the dreams of visionaries, not dunderheads.
At the time the then Vice President Mahamudu Bawumia told his compatriots that he would prefer a Ghana Card to 1,000 interchanges, he was subjected to assortment of invectives. That was beyond the ken of nitwits.
The world, he said during one of his lectures which gave the National Democratic Congress (NDC) nightmares, was moving into a digital space and Ghana would have to position herself in that space if she wants to be relevant in the fast moving international environment.
Sam George labelled him a liar, especially when the former Vice President mentioned the possibility of the card serving as a travel document for those who lost their passports while outside the country.
Dr. Bawumia said the Ghana Card as recognised by the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) will be readable in over a hundred countries and readable and acceptable in 44,000 airports worldwide.
That sounded Greek to such shallow-minded persons who parade themselves on the corridors of politics and pretending to be masters of all subjects. They could not believe the realities of the presentation of the former Vice President as regards the Ghana Card, three years ago.
He was ahead of them in vision by three years, hence their inability to comprehend the presentation on the Ghana Card. Of course being on a different wavelength far advanced than them, they could not have been carried along in such critical thinking, an attribute of Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia.
They could not understand how digitisation would impact the economy. Today, the impact is there for all to see.
The former Vice President, the driving force behind the Ghana Card project, has been vindicated as the document proves its mettle on various fronts.
They even said that the former Vice President has left his domain of economics for the digital world. What a bunch who are so obsessed with partisan politics that their vision, if they are endowed with any at all, is blurred.
The Ghana Card is today a prerequisite for banking and insurance businesses, a verifiable testimony to Dr. Bawumia’s vision.
President John Mahama, who once said the Gas do not have need for digitisation, has today described the Ghana Card as an anchor for the road tolls.
On May 1, 2025, President Mahama gave what can pass for his most flowery accolade for the Ghana Card when he said it is the most modern in Africa. He should have proceeded to pay tribute to Dr. Bawumia for championing the project rollout.
Yayra Koku, the Executive Secretary of National Identification Authority, is in a better position to vindicate the former Vice President beyond his acceptance that today, the Ghana Card is readable in 44,000 airports.