Bawumia explains difference between Google maps and Digital Address System

Vice President Bawumia has lambasted Former President Mahama for describing the digital addressing system as a ‘419’.

Mahamudu Bawumia who did not take kindly the words of the former president, described the Mahama-led administration as a 419-riddled, adding that Ghanaians know a scam when they see one.

An obviously displeased Bawumia noted “we know a 419 scam when we see one, and that, unfortunately, was the hallmark of the administration of former president Mahama. Ghanaians will find out more soon as people are held legally accountable. With the record that former president Mahama has in the area of governance, it is incredible that he would have the effrontery to talk about “419 scams.”

Describing as laughable and a show of ignorance Former President Mahama’s comments, Vice President Bawumia provided details about the GhanaPost Digital Addressing System to clear doubts about the cost and operation of the system.

“Yesterday I read that former President Mahama described Ghana’s NDPAS as a 419 scam. When I read his reasoning for such a description, it was evident to me that he has no clue about what he was talking about and was just engaged in parroting propaganda. I actually had a good laugh. Let me, therefore, take this opportunity to educate him and others who may think like him about Ghana’s landmark digital property addressing which has been achieved in less than one year, something his government could not do in eight years!” the Vice President remarked.

In explaining the setup and the way the GhanaPost Digital Addressing System works, Dr. Bawumia highlighted key differences between Google maps and the GhanaPost app, the features and uniqueness of the Digital property addressing system.

He emphasised “the NDPAS is a national database system that provides the digital address for every landed property in Ghana. Basically, every 5x5m property has a unique digital address on the grid with region, district and postcode. Under this system, 16.1 billion addresses have been generated for the whole of Ghana. It relies on surveyed data from Lands Commission and the Latitude and Longitudes to generate postcodes and addresses for every square inch of Ghana. The NDPAS comes with the National Address Registry to keep records of all citizens on where they register as their office and residential addresses. The Platform comes with open Application Programming Interfaces (APIs) to allow third-party application developers integrate into the system to be able to translate and use the digital addresses to help facilitate transactions. It is important to note that the NDPAS is independent of Google and any other mapping tool. Google will not give the postcode, region or district for a particular location for example. It will not give you a register of addresses for every user. Banks, for example, cannot confirm an address by going to Google maps but they can do so through the NDPAS for registered users.”

He boasted about the abilities of the new system describing it as the first in the world despite there being other forms of digital addressing systems.

“Many have indicated that there are other digital address systems in the world; of course but those do not detract from the fact that what we have in Ghana is something pretty special. None of the digital address systems in the world focus on local relevance in the same way that the GhanaPostGPS platform does. The GhanaPostGPS platform relies on Surveyed data to provide addresses. That means when you request your address, the platform makes reference to your district and region before determining your address, unlike other platforms that just use mathematics to calculate and assign an address…A digital address system complete with postcodes is pretty unique. A digital address system complete with postcodes that reference surveyed data is totally unheard of in the world! As far as I am aware, there is simply no digital address system available in the world today that uses Ghana specific Lands Commission survey data complete with postcodes. The digital address system that we have implemented is leapfrogging Ghana into the 21st century!”

The Vice President’s reaction to former President Mahama was made during his speech at a consultative forum at Peduase Valley Resort where Ministry of Food and Agriculture is holding a two-day consultative forum on the theme “Integrated Agricultural Programme for Ghana”

Dr. Bawumia expressed government’s commitment to improving the Agriculture sector and reverse the declines witnessed in the growth of the sector since 2013.

He said with platforms like the GhanaPostGPS, farmers will be easily located and aided with government interventions and other support programmes.

Vice President noted that it is in line with this that the government went out of its way to procure the best service for the benefit of the country insisting “It is no surprise that this system came top after 28 companies (including some of the best companies in the world in this area) expressed interest in the bid process to provide a digital address system for Ghana.”