Addressing Efficient Delivery and Corruption in The Public Service

Our approach to improving the delivery of public services is to minimize human contact as much as possible. Therefore, we embarked on an aggressive digitalization of the processes of service delivery across many public institutions with coordination from my office:

Digitalization of the passport office: We digitalized the passport office with oversight from my office. With digitization, the average turnaround time for the acquisition of passports has been significantly reduced and today you can apply for your passport online from home 24 hours a day. The digitization of the passport application process has resulted in a major increase in the number of passports processed annually as well as the revenue yield to the passport office. In 2018, a total of 346,911 passports were issued with a revenue of GHC11.8 million. By 2023, the passport office issued 751,761 passports with a revenue of GHC94.0 million. The ultimate objective is to eradicate human interface in all phases of the passport application process, to give true meaning to the online filling and processing of forms. I will come back to this shortly when I get to my vision and priorities.

Digitalization of the ports- Paperless Ports: Previously, the bureaucracy in the clearing of goods at Ghana’s ports involved a lot of paperwork and used to be largely manual. This caused delays, corruption, inefficiencies, frustration and loss of revenue to government. Many citizens who had cleared goods at the country’s ports had horror stories about their experiences at the ports. With oversight from my office, the introduction of a paperless port system has reduced the layers and simplified the process, reduced the time needed to clear goods and the avenues for corruption and increased efficiencies and revenue mobilization at the ports.

Digitalization of the DVLA: The DVLA offers two traditional services: Driver Licensing and Vehicle Registration related services. These services have been fully digitized.

Motor Insurance Database: My office also worked with the National Insurance Commission to implement the Motor Insurance Database. The objective of the introduction of the Motor Insurance Database is to provide more safeguards for the millions of Ghanaians who travel by road by ensuring vehicles are insured. It also curbs the menace of vehicles with fake motor insurance stickers plying our roads, thus endangering lives and property.

With the digitalization of motor insurance in Ghana, Members of the public can also self-check the authenticity of their insurance policy by dialing a USSD code *920*57# and follow the instructions thereafter to know the insurance status of the vehicle 24 hours a day! Today you can also apply for insurance for your vehicle on your mobile phone and receive your insurance sticker electronically 24 hours a day!