By Razak Baba
Vice President, Alhaji Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia, says the Akufo-Addo-led government is building a system that will enhance transparency, promote accountability, discipline, trustworthiness, and enable inclusiveness.
It is for this reason that it has adopted the policy of digitalization. According to the Vice President, digitalisation is promoting efficient public sector management, public service delivery and eliminating the incentives for bribery and corruption. Dr. Bawumia was addressing the opening of the 59th Ghana Baptist Convention Annual Session at Ejura in the Ashanti Region.
The five-day session brought together senior pastors, delegates from the Ghana Baptist Convention across the country and some West African countries to deliberate on issues affecting the Convention.
It is on the theme: “Fulfilling God’s Purpose, Growing God’s Church.” The Annual Session is the highest decision body of the Ghana Baptist Convention and consists of an Annual Gathering of the Denominational Board Members, the Presidency, Ministers and Delegates from Churches and Institutions, and the Convention Secretariat staff.
Its functions are to set rules and procedures of the Ghana Baptist Constitution for business, fellowship, evangelism and other relevant activities towards the growth of the denomination. The church has elected the Reverend Enoch Thompson as the new Executive President of Ghana Baptist Convention. Rev. Enoch Thompson, before his assumption as Executive President, was the Vice President of the Convention in charge of Ministries.
Accounting for his stewardship, the out-going Executive President of Ghana Baptist Convention, Rev. Dr. Ernest Adu-Gyamfi, commended members for their spiritual support during his tenure of office. He commended the government for its digitisation drive geared towards fighting corruption. Rev. Dr. Adu-Gyamfi said it is necessary to also look at some areas where the citizenry could have some relief.
According to him, in the last 10 years, almost every vehicle manufacturer has introduced daylight running lights at the front of their vehicles and led lights at the back to ensure that in-coming vehicles would identify them easily, while those coming from the rear would also spot vehicles in front of them.
Despite these changes to new vehicles, the DVLA continues to ask vehicle owners to place reflective stickers in front and at the back of their new vehicles. According to the Executive President of the Ghana Baptist Convention and Chairman of the National Peace Council, Rev. Dr. Ernest Adu Gyamfi, adds unnecessary cost to vehicle registration and has therefore appealed to the government to address public concerns in respect of the Driver Vehicle and Licensing Authority.
The Executive Secretary of the National Peace Council, George Amoh, commended various religious ssects for peaceful coexistence, saying Ghana has been ranked the most peaceful country in West Africa and third on the continent, and has therefore encouraged Ghanaians to continue on the path of using dialogue to settle disputes that have arisen within the nation.
He noted that most countries in the sub-region faced several security threats that undermined peace and stability within them. As such, Ghanaians should not take peace for granted but rather report any suspected criminal activity to the security agencies for swift response.
The Ejurahene, Barima Osei HHwedie, commended the Ghana Baptist Convention for the establishment of the Women’s Retreat Centre at Ejura. He announced that the traditional council had agreed to allocate 100 acres of land to the church to establish an Agricultural University in the Municipality.
Vice President, Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia, who was the Guest of Honour, said digitalisation has been introduced by the Akufo-Addo Government to effectively tackle bribery and corruption in the country. He said that through digitalization, the Government is putting in place the systems for a disciplined, less corrupt, transparent, efficient, trustworthy, and tax-compliant society.
The Vice President noted, however, that even though the government has made progress in the fight against corruption, there is still more to do. To achieve this, national development needs to be accelerated, and concerted efforts on the part of every Ghanaian will be required to build the nation.