Bawumia solicits support of CSOs to tackle 'entrenched interests' in corruption fight

The Vice President and Presidential Candidate of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia has declared his commitment to vigorously fight corruption by strengthening "digital systems" with the support of all.

At a meeting with Civil Society Groups (CSOs) in Accra Wednesday night, Dr. Bawumia said as president, he will need and welcome the support of CSOs in the fight against endemic corruption in many sectors.

He added that the support is needed because the fight against corruption is a fight against the status quo, and there are many people with "entrenched interests" benefiting from the status quo.

"We are going to be fighting a lot of entrenched interests in many sectors and I will really need the support of the CSOs to fight it," he said

"People are making money from the status quo so they don't want anything that fights corruption. But the interest of the nation should be paramount, not the interest of some few people. I believe we can do it together."

On his fight against corruption, Dr. Bawumia reiterated his belief deploying digital systems and institutions, which he said, will help prevent corruption rather than wait for it to happen before action.

"Digitalisation ensures greater transparency and I want to have a very transparent government and system. I want every government transaction to be traceable and cannot be erased."

"This is why I believe we have to implement a blockchain, e-government system. The UAE, for instance, is using blockchain, and I want Ghana to be the first country in Africa to introduce blockchain which will help the fight against corruption. This will make it possible for greater transparency in our governance system."

Some members of the CSOs who spoke, welcomed Dr. Bawumia's open invitation to them, to support his fight against corruption.