Am embarrassed about some of the things Bawumia said at the digitization lecture – Kwesi Pratt

Managing Editor of the Insight Newspaper, Mr Kwesi Pratt Jnr has said he is embarrassed about some of the things touted by the Vice President, Dr Mahamudu Bawumia at his digitization lecture in Accra.

Speaking on Pan African TV’s Good Morning Africa  on Thursday, November 4, monitored by GhanaPlus.com, he said some of the things mentioned by the Vice President were lies.

 “There are many problems with Dr Mahamudu Bawumia, his Excellency’s lecture. So many problems and sometimes I really feel embarrassed about some of the things he said. You see, he is the Vice President of the republic of Ghana and more or less a symbol of our nation and so o. If you make such elementary mistakes, it touches all of us”.

Bawumia’s 197 countries , Ghana card becoming a passport false – Mr Pratt

Mr Pratt said the Vice President’s  claims about the national identification card becoming a passport was false, so was his claims of its becoming accepted in 197 countries in the world.

He said the world had only 195 countries contrary to the Vice President’s claims.

Mr Pratt also explained the Ghana card could only validate nationality and could never become a passport.

“He claims for example that the national identity card will very soon become a passport admissible In 197 countries. It turns out that the whole world has 195 countries, so where did you get the two additional countries from?  I mean our Vice President doesn’t know the number of countries we have in the world.  So our National ID card can become the equivalent to a passport in 197 when the world have only 195 country, there is a huge problem”.

“It also clear that his claim that the national ID card can become a passport is completely false.What the National ID card can do is to validate nationality so that for example if you are a Ghanaian and you are traveling from Heathrow to Accra and you didn’t have a visa and there was doubt about your nationality, the national ID card can validate you nationality as a Ghanaian but it is not a passport, it cannot be a passport,” Mr Pratt added.

The renowned journalist advice, a fact check for the Vice President subsequent speeches to save the country some of the embarrassment.

Bawumia speaks on Ghana card and digitization

The Vice President of Ghana, Dr Mahamudu Bawumia while speaking on the theme “Transforming An Economy Through Digitalisation: The Ghana Story,” said Ghana’s national identification card, popularly known as Ghana card would soon be recognized globally as an e-passport in 197 countries.

He added it would also be recognized in some 44,000 boarders within the 197 countries.

Dr Bawumia said  with the programme in place, Ghanaians traveling outside the country and vice visa could do so with the card.

“It is not widely known that the Ghanacard is also an electronic passport (e-passport) that contains the biometric information that can be used to authenticate the identity of travelers. Government has been working with the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) this year to globally activate the e-passport function of the Ghanacard and I am happy to announce that on 13th October 2021, Ghana officially became the 79th member of the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) Public Key Directory (PKD) community. Ghana’s Country,” Dr Bawumia said.

“This means that by the end of the first quarter of 2022, the Ghanacard will be recognized globally as an e-passport and can be read and verified in all ICAO compliant borders (i.e. in 197 countries and 44,000 airports in the world). When this happens, holders of the Ghanacard will be allowed to board any flight to Ghana. Furthermore, the good news for diasporan Ghanaians is that when the Ghana Immigration Service is linked to the NIA architecture, diasporan Ghanaians who hold the Ghanacard should not have to obtain visas to travel to Ghana,” he added.

Source: GhanaPlus.com