An accounting and finance lecturer at the University of Professional Studies, Accra (UPSA) says Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia's stance on corruption reflects government's commitment to fighting the canker.

Dr. Eric Boachie Yiadom said removing the human element through the digitalisation of the various public institutions is a proactive way to fight corruption.

According to him, while the creation of the Office of the Special Prosecutor and the Attorney General's Department are necessary to combat corruption in Ghana, they are reactive rather than proactive measures.

“Why do you always want the building to catch fire before you call the ambulance to come when you could have put your house in order to prevent your house catching fire,” he said.

Speaking on the AM Show on JoyNews, Dr. Yiadom said digitising government services will help to minimise corruption and corruption-related activities.

According to him, relying solely on trust and hoping that public officials will act in the best interests of the country is wrong.

 “That is why I say, the speech given by the Vice President is charting a new course and repositioning Ghana towards the fight against corruption.”

“If a politician or technocrat wants to be corrupt, it is through the civil servants that they work with. Usually we see the corruption up there but there is more corruption down there than we see and integrating digitalisation is a way of restricting and minimizing the extent to which a civil servant or technocrat within the space is able to influence the system,” he stated.

Background

The flagbearer of the ruling New Patriotic Party (NPP), Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia, has asserted that Ghanaians can rely on him to combat corruption if elected as President in the forthcoming December elections.

He insisted that he had never been implicated in any corruption scandal throughout his life.

Dr. Bawumia affirmed that his personal integrity positions him to mitigate the corruption scourge, if not eradicate it entirely.

Addressing the public on Wednesday, February 7, at the University of Professional Studies, Accra, he pledged to digitalize all state agencies as part of efforts to curb corruption.