I have my own vision for Ghana – Bawumia

Vice President Dr. Bawumia has revealed aspects of a comprehensive vision he has for Ghana which he plans to put into an immediate reality if voted as the country’s President during the 2024 general elections.

He said the vision includes a burning desire to “bridge the digital divide and apply digital technology and artificial intelligence for the transformation of healthcare, education, and public service delivery amongst others”.

He disclosed that one of his priorities would be to make Ghana the digital hub of Africa by leveraging on technology, data and systems for inclusive economic growth.

The Vice President  made this known in his address last Friday June 16 at the headquarters of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) in Accra where he had gone to file the nominations forms he picked to contest the 2024 flag-bearer primaries of the party.

It is about the clearest indication from Dr. Bawumia so far that he has firmed up his mind to run as president on the ticket of the NPP come 2024.

Dr. Bawumia’s filing of forms last Friday ended up in a mammoth rally attended by thousands of party folks who literally turned the entire environs of the NPP headquarters into a free-for-all jamboree and street carnival.  It was arguably the largest gathering of NPP faithful after the party’s last campaign rally for the 2020 general elections.

In explaining his vision for the country, the Vice President said there is the critical need to consolidate, protect and build upon the transformational gains of the current government, rather than hand the country over to another political party which has no meaningful track record to show.

“Having implemented these transformational policy initiatives, it is very important that we don’t go backwards as a country. We cannot put the country back in the hands of people who don’t have an understanding of and belief in the vision. That is why it important for us to break the eight. There is still much more to do,

“I believe that it is time to move Ghana to the next level by building on the foundations we have put in place so far”, Dr. Bawumia noted.

He further explained his vision for Ghana: “Together with you, I want to see a Ghana where we leverage technology, data and systems for inclusive economic growth. I want to make Ghana the digital hub of Africa. I want us to bridge the digital divide and apply digital technology and artificial intelligence for the transformation of healthcare, education, and public service delivery amongst others.

“ Together with you, I want to see a Ghana with an education system tilted towards STEM, Robotics, Artificial Intelligence, digital and vocational skills to cope with the demands of fourth Industrial Revolution.

“Together with you, I want to see a Ghana where we cater and care for the poor, vulnerable, excluded and sick people.

“Together with you, I want to see a Ghana where we attain food security in the shortest possible time through the application of science, data, Artificial Intelligence, Satellite, Internet of Things (IOT) and irrigation to commercial farming. We will also complete the ongoing digitalization of data on all farms across the 16 regions.

“Together with you, I want to see a Ghana where we maximize the benefits from our natural resources like gold and lithium through policies like, value addition, setting up an LBMA certified gold refinery, enhancing the gold for oil policy, and dedication of specific gold concessions to the Bank of Ghana to enhance their accumulation of gold reserves.

“Together with you, I want to see Ghana as an industrialized nation. I want to entrench and enhance the current strategy of industrialization that we have embarked on and introduce new technology like digital manufacturing for the manufacturing of spare parts, syringes, and other equipment.

“Together with you, I want to see a Ghana with robust fiscal discipline in the management of our public finances to sustainably and significantly reduce bank lending rates.

“Together with you, I want to see a Ghana with an empowered local business sector, especially startups and SMEs to drive investment and growth. We will transform the SME landscape by providing unique identifiers and using technology to help them access new financing and markets. I also want to provide incentives to the private sector to replace government in the provision of a significant amount of infrastructure and many other services.

“Together with you, I want to see a Ghana with a developed and efficient credit system through credit scoring by credit reference agencies by leveraging on integrated databases across banks, DVLA, NIA, Digital Address systems etc. to enable workers buy furniture, cars, TVs, fridges and homes (mortgages) on credit at lower cost.

“Together with you, I want to see a Ghana with energy self-sufficiency at reduced cost through solar and other renewables with the application of market efficiency to the energy market.

“Together with you, I want to see a Ghana with an enhanced focus on private and public investment in tourism, creative arts and sports.

“This is not an exhaustive list and in due course we will have a chance to lay out a comprehensive Manifesto for Ghanaians.”