World Bank has recorded KIA E-Gate project as ‘complete and successful’ – Bright Simons reveals

The Honourary Vice President of Policy Think Tank IMANI Africa, Bright Simons, has raised concerns that if the government used a single cedi of World Bank money for the Kotoka International Airport E-Gate project, the global lender would have funded the project more than twice.

According to him, the World Bank has captured the project as “complete and successful”.

However, the E-Gate system has yet to be implemented at the airport.

In a post on his X profile on Monday, Bright Simons said, “If this new e-gate project uses a single pesewa of Ghanaian money, then it will be the most brazen abuse of @WorldBank money ever in the history of the world.”

“The truth is that the World Bank has paid TWICE for this same project. And recorded the project as complete & successful,” he added.

World Bank

Mr Simons’s comments followed the announcement by the flagbearer of the ruling New Patriotic Party (NPP) Vice President, Dr Mahamudu Bawumia, that the E-Gate system will be installed at the airport by the end of December 2024.

Dr. Bawumia, during a meeting with the clergy in Cape Coast as part of his regional campaign tour, noted that the government will implement an electronic gate (E-Gate) system at Kotoka International Airport by the end of the year.

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You don’t need to go to an immigration officer – Bawumia explains how E-Gates will work at KIA
The NPP flagbearer
explained that the E-Gate will be installed at the arrival section of the airport to reduce interface with immigration personnel and avoid delays for visitors undergoing checks upon arrival.

“In fact, before the end of this year if you arrive in Ghana at Kotoka [International] Airport, you don’t need to go to an immigration officer, we are putting together the E-gates, you put in your Ghana card it will open for you, and you pass and enter. The E-gates will come into work in Ghana before the end of this year,” Dr Bawumia stated.