The recently launched National Digital Property Addressing System, the GhanaPostGPS has been tipped as one of the most downloaded Ghanaian apps within a minimal period.
This according to the Minister of Communications, Mrs Ursula Owusu-Ekuful is a remarkable feat attained by the New Patriotic Party (NPP) government despite the criticisms and backlashes since the launch of the app by the President, Nana Akufo-Addo.
The honourable minister was speaking on “State of Affairs” on GhOne TV Thursday.
Reacting to the critics of the app, Ms Owusu-Ekuful said although the negative reviews about the GhanaPostGPS app has been unbearable it has however been embraced.
“It’s been phenomenal and it is made it possible for all manner of small businesses to also jump onto the bandwagon. I think it’s been the most downloaded app in this country within the time frame”.
She disclosed that in spite of the controversies surrounding the $2.5 million digital addressing system, it has fostered the course of the campaign in terms of advertisement.
“All this has helped push the publicity which we are getting for free. We were spending an enormous amount of money to publicise this because it entails attitudinal change, it entails a new way of doing things and we are rolling it out nationwide”.
“We really need to drum it home to people who may not be too comfortable with these new found ways of doing things to try it and see how it works. And so we are driving a whole publicity campaign but the feedback has been good,” she said.
Mrs. Ursula Owusu-Ekuful who is optimistic about the success of the GhanaPostGPS revealed that measures are being laid down to improve the app based on the reviews and suggestions from some experts.
“The feedback has been good. We’ve got some useful suggestions as well which the technical people are considering as to how to improve the system which I think is wonderful”.
As with any technological stuff, you think you’ve got an amazing product but somebody sitting there can also suggest if you did it this way you might get even better results and so we are open all that positive feedback as well,” the honourable minister added.
It was reported that Ghana was going to pay Google an amount of $400,000 every year to use their systems integrated into the addressing system to be used in Ghana.
But the Minister of Communications, Ursula Owusu-Ekuful, has said that Government of Ghana has no agreement whatsoever with Google as far as the use of the locally-produced digital addressing application, GhanaPost GPS, is concerned, for which reason the Akufo-Addo administration has to fork out $400,000 per year to the tech giant.
“Ghana government isn’t paying Google any money for anything, so, I don’t know where that is coming from. And it would help if people took their time to interrogate issues before they run with falsehoods and poison the atmosphere.”