Bawumia: Vice President Criticises Ghanaians With Impossibility Mindset About Country's Digital Revolution

• The vice president has fought back criticisms and trolls on social media following his comment he would choose the Ghana Card over 1,000 interchanges
• Dr Mahamudu Bawumia said people mocked that comment because they had an impossibility mindset, adding that people with that mindset made visionary leadership difficult
• The vice president said economic transformation cannot be achieved with only brick and mortar but with ideas, systems and institutions

Vice President Mahamudu Bawumia has fought back public criticisms of his recent comments that touted the Ghana Card and the country's digitalisation drive, which he leads.

Speaking on Monday, July 18, 2022, during the launch of a national electronic platform for medicine stores, the vice president said the criticisms result from a deep-seated impossibility mindset that fights national progress.

"There are many who refuse to understand the importance of digitalisation for our economic transformation…they will mock any new innovation," he said.

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His comments follow heavy trolls on social media last week for saying that he would choose the Ghana Card over 1,000 interchanges. The vice president made that comment to emphasise the importance of the national ID system to economic transformation.

However, millions of Ghanaians on social media mocked Dr Bawumia's comparison, describing it as exaggerated and disingenuous.

However, speaking at the event on Monday, the vice president said critics couldn't see the bigger picture.

"We are confronted with a mindset that only sees impossibilities. A mindset that refuses to believe that African countries like Ghana can lead the world in the implementation of digital technologies," he said.

He added:

"You cannot transform an economy with just brick and mortar, no. You can only transform an economy with ideas, systems and institutions. Not just brick and mortar," Dr Bawumia stressed.

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"I Will Choose Ghana Card Over 1,000 Interchanges" & Other Things Vice President Said During Lecture

YEN.com.gh reported in a separate story that Vice President Mahamudu Bawumia last week stirred controversy with some comments he made during a lecture; one of them being that he would choose the Ghana Card over 1,000 interchanges.

In the vice president's attempt to get Ghanaians to buy into the national digitalisation drive he is leading, he said a successful national ID system like the Ghana Card was better than some physical infrastructure. He said a national ID system was a major vehicle for rapid transformation.

"Today, we have 16 million Ghanaians with unique identities, and that is a major transformation. A lot of people sometimes do not appreciate its impact…If you gave me 1,000 interchanges and the Ghana card, I would choose the Ghana card because it has more impact," he said.

Source: YEN.com.gh