According to Vice President Dr Mahamudu Bawumia, over 498,000 online applications were submitted in 2021, producing over 56 million dollars.
On Thursday, May 5, 2022, he announced this during the 2022 edition of the Institute of Internal Auditors (Ghana) Annual Conference in Accra.
Dr. Bawumia stated that "much more openness" would be infused in order to "throw a light into the dark recesses of corruption," citing substantial gains in the revenues and performance of Government agencies that have embraced technology.
"We are already seeing the benefits of these initiatives, such as efficient public service delivery by all Ministries, Departments, and Agencies on the Ghana.gov portal, combating corruption by eliminating the middleman and "ghost names" in many transactions, bringing more Ghanaians into the formal sector, and driving domestic revenue mobilization, to name a few.
"Take the Passport Office, which received roughly 16,000 passport applications in 2017, producing about Ghs1 million." In 2021, however, there were over 498,000 online applications, producing over Ghs56 million, thanks to the introduction of digitalization. The DVLA, the ports, and other organizations are all experiencing similar problems.
"We just earned the biggest gate profits from a football match in Ghana, thanks to the introduction of e-tickets." In all spheres of national life, we shall continue to shine the light of transparency."
Given their critical position in the governance structure of both public and private entities, the Vice President tasked Internal Auditors to contribute to the fight against corruption.
"Your capacity to give independent assurance that public sector institutions' risk management, governance, and internal control systems are running successfully rests first and foremost on your embrace and implementation of digital technologies as internal auditors in a digitalised economy."
For the sake of survival and prosperity, people in charge of governance must embrace digitisation.
"In line with the Institute of Internal Auditors' mission, the internal audit function must be well-positioned to assist organizations in achieving their goals via insight and foresight." This must be accomplished by using a methodical, disciplined strategy to assess and enhance risk management, control, and governance performance."
Mrs Harriet Karikari, President of the Institute of Internal Auditors, recommended organizations to engage in ongoing training for their internal audit team to increase their efficiency and effectiveness in predicting, recognizing, and resolving issues.