Bawumia launches e-travel card for gov’t workers

The  Vice President, Dr Mahamudu Bawumia, has launched an electronic travel card that is aimed at controlling travel expenditure of public service workers including government officials.

The card, among other things, is designed to regulate and eradicate corruption and misappropriation of public funds by officials travelling for official duties.

The Vice President launched the card at the 22nd annual delegates conference of the Controller and Accountant General’s Department (CAGD) in Cape Coast.

The two-day conference, which was on the theme: ‘The role of the CAGD in advancing the digitalisation agenda of Ghana’, had directors and staff of the Auditor General’s Department and finance officers from metropolitan, municipal and district assemblies (MMDAs) and regional coordinating councils (RCCs) in attendance.

In his speech, Dr Bawumia said government was focused and committed to using digitization to turn the economic fortunes of the country.

He said the government’s digitalisation agenda had so far chalked some achievements and has had about 80 percent of the citizens with their tax identification numbers (TINs), including a paperless operating system at Ghana’s ports, acquisition of passports and renewal of the national health insurance, all targeted at reducing bribery and corruption.

He further said the system would eliminate the high risk of cash transactions for official travels for public services, ensure transparency, accountability imprests.

The Vice President also commended the CAGD for for their dedication to public financial management service to help government business and lauded Fidelity Bank Limited for partnering government to introduce the e-card.

The Controller and Accountant General, Kwesi Kwaning-Bosompem, said the introduction of the e-card marked a milestone in the digitalisation agenda to enhance the work of the staff of the CAGD to manage public funds effectively.

The Managing Director for Fidelity Bank Limited, Julian Opuni, in an interview, said his outfit being an indigenous bank was committed to giving government all the necessary support to use digitization to provide financial services to boost the economy and prayed Ghanaians embrace it to make business transaction convenient.