His call is in response to a 2016 statement made by John Mahama while he was president, suggesting that, Dr. Bawumia lacked the capacity to criticize him [Mahama], since Bawumia had not occupied any position close to the presidency before.

[contextly_sidebar id=”pJImNqTX6VEIKKKE4BXi7o6eef9G8nXp”]“They [NPP] have told all their communicators anytime you mention Mahama or NDC say incompetent. I hear Bawumia and co say incompetent Mahama administration. You never held any responsibility anywhere near presidency before. You do not know what it is like to be President. I will take that word from Kufuor or Rawlings because they have been there before. All of you guys have never ever come near the presidency and you stand there and say incompetent Mahama administration… What do you know about competence?,” John Mahama said.

But in an address at Peduase Lodge on Monday on the importance of the digital property addressing system for farmers, the Vice President teased John Mahama, saying, “I hope that in all humility, former President Mahama can now accept criticism from me since by the Grace of God I have now occupied the office of Vice President of the Republic.”

Dr. Bawumia, who took the opportunity react to John Mahama’s description of the Digital Addressing System as a ‘419’ scam said Mr. Mahama was “clueless.”

John Mahama, while addressing teeming supporters of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) after its Unity Walk in the Central Region on Sunday, said “How can you launch a Google GPS system that is freely available on our mobile phone and say it is a national addressing system. It is such a pity. Why will you embarrass the president so much? You go and take a whole president to bring him to come and launch a system that is 419,” but Bawumia believes Mahama’s comment was from an ill-informed position.

‘Clueless’ Mahama’s attack on address system laughable – Bawumia

Dr. Bawumia in response said, “I read that the former President described Ghana’s National Digital Addressing system as a 419 scam. When I read his reasoning for such a description, it became very 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.”

We’ll soon expose ‘419’ people in your era – Bawumia

“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,” he added.

–

By: Jonas Nyabor/citifmonline.com/Ghana

The post I’m now Veep; I can criticize you – Bawumia tells Mahama appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.

The system, christened, Ghana Post GPS, which was launched on October 18, 2017, was part of the New Patriotic Party’s (NPP) plans of formalizing the country’s economy by digitally mapping and providing a digital address to all locations and properties in the country.

[contextly_sidebar id=”Bf0ZkzlcghS5TIHd53pL07XXLhPASUlQ”]Some critics have however raised concerns with the functionality of the system as well as the annual license fees of four hundred thousand dollars, paid to global giant tech giant Google for navigational services.

However, speaking on Monday about the importance of the digital property addressing system for farmers at the plush Peduase Lodge, the Vice President rubbished these suggestions, saying the system offers “value for money.”

The former President also said the system is fairly “unique” since it focuses on local relevance.

The full statement from the Vice President is below 

H.E DR. MAHAMUDU BAWUMIA RESPONDS TO H.E. JOHN DRAMANI MAHAMA ON THE NATIONAL DIGITAL PROPERTY ADDRESSING SYSTEM (NDPAS).

Yesterday [Sunday], 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!

I hope that in all humility former President Mahama can now accept criticism from me since by the Grace of God I have now occupied the office of Vice President of the Republic.

What is the National Digital Property Address System?

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.
It is very important that we distinguish the NDPAS from the applications that are developed to use the system. We should not confuse the system with the applications.

The GhanaPostGPS App is a tool that helps everyone easily know what their address is. It relies on the open APIs of the NDPAS to retrieve addresses for properties across the country. The app uses maps provided by Google, Openstreet, ESRI and Bing to aid in easy identification and navigation.

It is expected that many app developers will integrate their apps into the NDPAS and utilize the address system to push ecommerce and service delivery. One can see organizations such as Ghana Water, ECG, Banks, etc. developing apps using the NDPAS for their own purposes.

Uniqueness of Ghana’s Digital Address System

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.

The postcode system built into this platform utilizes the Spiral Matrix Postcode Algorithm to generate the various postcodes across the nation where the centre is postcode 0, postcode 1 is 500 meters, postcode 2 is 500m from postcode 1 going in a spiral until the entire district has been addressed with postcodes.

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!

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.

COST OF THE NATIONAL DIGITAL ADDRESS SYSTEM

Ghana is undertaking a project to implement a NDPAS. The cost of the project as advertised is GH¢9.9m or $2.3 million (VAT inclusive). It should be noted that this amount is the total cost of the project, not just the app. For those like former President Mahama saying this could have been delivered for free, please take note:

1. There is a cost of the public awareness campaign to aid in the public education and awareness creation for the National Digital address system over the next 12 months. You have all seen the “Jack Where are you” billboards, internet and social media placements as well as heard the adverts on radio.

2. Infrastructure Set Up Cost – the costs of Servers (production and redundancies), firewalls, operating system and database licenses as well as support have all been included in the cost of the project.

3. Third party licensing fees. At the launch, Vokacom made it clear that the platform could run using any map provider such as openstreet and google. To present a seamless user experience, they opted to pay google for the use of their map services. The Hon. Minister of Communication, Mrs Ursula Owusu-Ekuful, has made it clear that the government will not be paying any more money to any mapping solutions provider when the current term expires. We are in fact working with Google, Microsoft, esri and openstreet to agree and go with one of these solutions providers.

4. The cost of physically embossing 4,000 government and other public buildings.

5. The cost of training for all staff of Ghanapost as well as other stakeholders such as NCCE across the nation is included in this cost. So far, over 800 buildings have been embossed with their digital addresses and more than 500 persons have been trained across the country. More embossment and training are ongoing.

6. The cost of over 300 smart devices equipped with the Offline version of the app are being deployed across the nation to staff of Gdhanapost and other supporting agencies to assist citizens who do not have smartphones.

7. Testing, that is “ground truthing”, across the nation to give assurance of the validity of the system.

8. Intellectual property of the developers

How could anyone claim that this project could have come for free? Would the free givers have given us free public education, servers, firewalls, house embossments, training and smart devices all for free?

It is worth noting that other companies bid as high as GHS170million for this project. In fact, one of the most credible international companies that participated put in a bid for over GHS38million. The NDPAS is therefore value for money. Countries such as Ivory Coast, Nigeria and Mongolia are all implementing NDPASs similar to Ghana and none has opted for a free Google or other existing free mapping app. In fact, from the prices quoted by the international main supplier of the digital address systems all these countries have spent at least three times more than Ghana for their digital property address systems.

For former president Mahama to claim that Ghana’s NDPAS and the accompanying GhanaPostGPS app is a 419 scam demonstrates a complete lack of understanding of the system. We have been witnesses to 8 years of his governance as vice president and president and we know what 419 scams look like.

The National Digital Property Address System:
• is not your 419 GH¢200 million SADA Guinea fowl and tree planting scam
• is not your 419 Smarttys Bus Branding scam
• is not your 419 $23 million runway at Kumasi Airport
• is not your 419 GH¢ 952 million GYEEDA scam
• is not the 419 $14 million mansion for the vice president
• is not the 419 GH¢657m Woyome, Waterville and other judgement debt scams

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”.

We have spent $2.3 million on a NDPAS and I dare say it is money well spent for the benefit of all Ghanaians. It is not money finding itself into the pockets of a few cronies. We did not spend it on Akonfem, bus branding, over-priced mansions and contracts, ghost roads, etc. We have spent it on something productive. As a result, Ghana has an excellent digital property addressing system if former president Mahama would care to take some time and just read and learn about it. It was developed by Ghanaians and we should collectively take pride in their work and not try to pull them down.

Work is proceeding and the NDPAS will be implemented with the physical tagging of each house next year as well as the synchronization of the digital address of each property with the address on the utility bills of the property.

I should note that propaganda did not help former President Mahama when he was in government and it is certainly not going to help him in opposition. We welcome constructive criticism but before you criticize, please take your time to make sure you know what you are talking about otherwise you would be sadly exposed as being ignorant of simple facts as in this case.

–

By: Marian Ansah/citifmonline.com/Ghana

The post Bawumia educates critics of Digital Addressing System appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.

Speaking at an NDC unity walk in Cape Coast last weekend, the former President accused the Vice President of embarrassing the government with the digital addressing system which in his view attracted a huge cost, when same could be accessed on Google Maps for free.

“How can you launch a Google GPS system that is freely available on our mobile phone and say it is a national addressing system. It is such a pity. Why will you embarrass the president so much? You go and take a whole president to bring him to come and launch a system that is 419,” John Mahama said.

[contextly_sidebar id=”WcfbECLCT4EOShSxWZ7WSVhZ55FY7oNA”]However, speaking on the importance of the digital property addressing system for farmers at the plush Peduase Lodge , the Vice President took a dig at ex-president Mahama, saying  “I read that the former President described Ghana’s National Digital Addressing system as a 419 scam. When I read his reasoning for such a description, it became very 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.”

Educating the former President and critics of the system, Dr. Bawumia explained that, the system 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.”

He further pointed out that, the system is “independent of Google and any other mapping tool” adding that “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.”

Obviously peeved by Mr. Mahama’s ‘419’ description of the address system, the Vice President retorted that, Ghanaians after experiencing 8 years of the former president’s leadership as Vice President and President, know what a ‘419’ scam looks like.

“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.”

Digital Addressing system will benefit Ghanaians – Bawumia

The Vice President stated that, the 2.5 million dollar system will be beneficial to Ghanaians and cannot be compared to the millions blown by the Mahama government in the bus branding, SADA scandals and others that rocked his government.

“We did not spend it on Akonfem, bus branding, over-priced mansions and contracts, ghost roads, etc. We have spent it on something productive. As a result, Ghana has an excellent digital property addressing system if  former president Mahama would care to take some time and just read and learn about it. It was developed by Ghanaians and we should collectively take pride in their work and not try to pull them down.”

He warned that former President Mahama and his appointees will see what 419 really means when the claws of the legal system is unleashed on them.

–

By: Caleb Kudah & Marian Ansah/citifmonline.com/Ghana

The post ‘Clueless’ Mahama’s attack on address system laughable – Bawumia appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.

Dr. Sawyerr believes the Vice President deceived Ghanaians when he said the $2.5 million worth system will be more advanced than those used in the UK and United States of America.

“It is more advanced than the United States or the United Kingdom or Germany because they are stuck to old technology, and we are leapfrogging. We are going to a new technology; we are going to GPS-based technology,” Dr. Bawumia said when he delivered a lecture at the University of Cape Coast, on October 5, 2017.

[contextly_sidebar id=”5GcvrWNhanVG9m00d0jDfNreaTQAuFYs”]But Valerie Sawyer in her recent epistle mocked the Vice President saying “Who is deceiving these people?”

“In ten months, they have devised and implemented a digital addressing system that is more advanced than that of the U.S., the U.K., Sweden and Germany? Wow! Not surprisingly, I soon found out it was simply an app that uses Google’s free geographical coordinates. …So, Mr. President, what is the Vice-President’s excuse please?”

The former presidential staffer in the article also posited that, Dr. Bawumia goofed when he made such comments.

She also presumed that the $2.5 million sum spent on the digital address system was not value-for-money, and that the Minority in Parliament will soon be demanding answers from the Procurement Minister in that regard.

“#Jack Where Are You – that is the slogan for the digital addressing system! Mr. President, in case you are wondering, we are talking about ‘value for money’. This ‘Jack Where Are You’ goof will not vanish into thin air. An urgent question has been filed in Parliament for the Minister of State in charge of Public Procurement to provide details of the procurement process for the system. We are waiting patiently please,” she said in the article.

Madam Sawyerr also took on President Akufo-Addo for crediting the Wa Water project to the NPP government, lawless acts by vigilante groups and armyworm invasion among others.

Below is Valerie Sawyerr’s full article:

Dr. Valerie Sawyerr writes:

Mr. President!
Mr. President!!
Mr. President!!!

How many times did I call you? Why will you not let me enjoy a peaceful Opposition? Stretching my legs in an easy chair on my patio, I heard your Vice-President say: “We are introducing… Ghana’s digital address system with unique post-codes within every location within Ghana… The digital addressing system is going to provide… us the most advanced addressing system in the world. Period! This is what we are about to roll out. And it is more advanced, off course, than the United States or the United Kingdom or Sweden or Germany because they are stuck with old technology. We are leap-frogging and we are going to new technology. We are going to GPS-based technology, so even if you are standing in the middle of the River Oti and you want your address when we roll it out you will know your address in the middle of the River Oti.” I said to myself – “Who is deceiving these people? In ten months, they have devised and implemented a digital addressing system that is more advanced than that of the U.S., the U.K., Sweden and Germany? Wow!”

Not surprisingly, I soon found out it was simply an app that uses Google’s free geographical coordinates. Don’t ask me what that means. I cannot claim to be an expert of any sort in the world of digitalization but I have access to young knowledgeable professionals who I call when I do not understand such matters. So, Mr. President, what is the Vice-President’s excuse please?

But Sir, why should I begrudge your Vice-President his exaggerated manipulative style. Barely a month ago, I was stretching my legs in that same easy chair when I heard you say: “This project was began in the time of the great Ghanaian leader John Agyekum Kufour. It was in his time that the financing for this project was secured as far back as 2008. Unfortunately, after he left, it took five years under the NDC successor government before the construction of the project. God has his own way of doing these things – a project that was begun by Kufour is going to be commissioned by Akufo-Addo. That is the way the Almighty works.”

I asked myself – what project is he talking about and is this not a gross display of mathematical deficiency? We all know that the NDC was in power for eight years – so even if it is true that for five years construction of the project was not begun, what happened to the extra three years?

After sleeping for five years, did the NDC government use three years to get out of bed in stretching mode? Did the NPP government then use nine months to execute the project? I wondered whether you were cutting sod for the project or commissioning the completed project.

So, I cross-checked! Lo and behold, it was the Wa Water Project. Eeeeishh! I am sure there is a word or phrase that describes a consistent and deeply ingrained tendency for manipulating the truth before audiences that the manipulator persistently deems ignorant and/or gullible, when indeed this is not the case. Especially when they attach phrases like ‘God has his own way of doing these things’ and ‘that is the way the Almighty works’. Blasphemy of the highest order!

With all due respect Mr. President, do you see how you were fumbling when you got to that part and feverishly wiping your mouth? Ahaaa! As we say in our local parlance ‘if you will not allow your mother to sleep you will also not sleep!’ Your Excellency, let me go back to your Vice-President. Let’s try this quiz Sir:

• Is Google Maps Navigation a mobile application developed by Google, which normally uses a GPS satellite connection to determine its location?

• Did the Ghanaian Government pay US$2.5m to Vokacom, aka Afrifa, to develop a digital addressing system for the country? • Did Vokacom develop a digital addressing system based on the GPS technology?

• Is the GPS technology new or was it invented in the 1960s in the U.S.?

• Does the new app developed by Vokacom use Google’s free geographical coordinates to function?

• Will Ghana pay a US$400,000.00 annual fee to Google for embedding their online map into Ghana’s new digital addressing system?

• Does the Ghanaian government have physical access to the server?

• Does another country have access to our personal information fed into the server?

• Did a similar Facebook App integration with Google maps cost US$500,000? • Why are there so many complaints that the Ghana Post GPS App is not working efficiently?

• Did the Government really spend GH¢3.5million on publicizing the system as declared by the MD of Ghana Post, James Kwofie?

#Jack Where Are You – that is the slogan for the digital addressing system! Mr. President, in case you are wondering, we are talking about ‘value for money’.

This ‘Jack Where Are You’ goof will not varnish into thin air. An urgent question has been filed in Parliament for the Minister of State in charge of Public Procurement to provide details of the procurement process for the system. We are waiting patiently please. Your Excellency, do you need more than ten months in Government to realize that you cannot get away with what you used to get away with in Opposition? You cannot hoodwink the people with half-truths and untruths all the time.

You cannot get them to accept hook, line and sinker unrealistic dreams and expectations. You cannot twist and turn untruths into truths. You cannot dig a big hole at a spot and get your information gurus to say you actually built a mountain at that spot when the spot is accessible to all for verification. Your Minister for Information is somersaulting all over the place, struggling to present coverups for your mess-ups.

With all due respect Sir, you are over-pressurising the young man. Your Excellency, if you think we have forgotten the Bond saga, the MacDan saga, the BOST saga, the AMERI saga, the missing cocaine saga, the GH¢ 5million Ghana@60 saga, the illegal deportation saga, then you have another thought coming.

• Your incompetent Minister for Agriculture now says the army worms have come to stay, after he said he had eradicated them;

• Your implementation of the First Year Free SHS programme has been woefully inadequate;

• You moved a whole community of Ghanaians to the United States for the 72nd Session of the UN General Assembly when public officers had not been paid;

• Your MASLOC CEO, Stephen Amoah purchases 1,800 second-hand cars with no MASLOC board in place and no PPA (Public Procurement Authority) approval;

• Your Invisible Forces, Delta Forces, Kandahar boys, Bolgatanga Bulldogs … just heard about the Elmina Sharks and Paga Crocodiles … and other rebel groups are still terrorizing the nation … Sissala West DCE flees irate youth … NPP Youth lock up School Feeding Office in Tamale … NPP youth storm police station in Karaga … NPP youth group beats Assembly members at Adeiso. Mr. President, what happened to your democratic credentials please?

• Your operatives ‘imprison’ Appiah Stadium in a room and force him to produce an audio recording for public consumption. They handcuff him from Kumasi to the Police Headquarters in Accra where it takes almost four hours to get the police to agree to grant him bail around 9.30pm, and thereafter you issue a statement saying you are no longer interested in pursuing the case. Of course, I cannot defend the words he used on you although, Sir, I cannot remember you defending yourself when the WikiLeaks reports were released.

I also remember the horrible words you and your team used on Ex President Mahama while he was in office. It is not too late to apologise to him Sir. • You impose penalties amounting to over GH¢1billion on radio stations and shut some down in the name of administrative streamlining.

Mr. President, it is important that our institutions obey and adhere to laid down rules and procedures, but I am sure you realize that by imposing unrealistic sanctions on them the message that rings clear is that you have a sinister agenda. To cut down some of the fines to 50% is still unconscionable, especially when the Schedule used for the calculation of fines had not yet been approved by Parliament. May I humbly suggest that the first review of the draconian decision should have seen a reduction of fines to the level of the applicable law, while insisting that the Radio Stations present the requisite paperwork.

As things are, it may be advisable to simply declare an amnesty, give them a time frame to present the relevant paperwork and pay the fees of the years unpaid at the current rate. This would spare the nation a further loss of democratic credentials as well as imminent court cases. As for my sister Ursula, I have confidence in her that she will do the right thing and I hope my confidence is not misplaced. As I pondered over your actions this morning, I found myself singing a popular tune – ‘kro kro kro kro, hi hi hi hi krohi krohi kro kro kro, hi hi kro kro kro …’ Your Excellency, do you remember that tune?

The rhythm of the reverberating shuttle of the loom as our kente weavers produce our resplendent kente cloths. Sir, I can see you slowly weaving your way into the hole that you yourself are digging. It is so deep that if you fall in it, Mr. President you know we will not be able to find you even if all fire service and military operatives and equipment are dispatched to the scene

Mr. President, what stops you from graciously acknowledging what the NDC has accomplished? Is it a narcissistic tendency that prevents you from acknowledging the good in others? Or is it your speech-writers who have decided as a policy that nothing good of the NDC should be acknowledged? Please listen to the humble advise of an Opposition Chiller – you are the one who will be held responsible for the fumbling of your Government. Your writers can write for you but you are the one who must determine in the end what you actually say.

Apart from the Wa Water Project, that you attempted to take credit for (naughty naughty), may I remind you of some other water projects executed under President Mahama – Essakyir Water Supply Project; Kpong Water Expansion Project; Nsawam Water Expansion Projects; Teshie Water Desalination Plant; Kumasi (Barekese) Water Supply Project; Five Towns Water Supply Project (Kyebi, Osenase, Anyinam, Apedwa & Kwabeng); Kpong Intake Rehabilitation Project; Accra-Tema Metropolitan Area Supply Project; Asante Mampong Water Project; Akim-Oda-Akwatia-Winneba Water Project; Konongo-Kumawu-Kwahu Water Project; Navrongo Water Project & Small Town Water Systems across all regions.

I understand the Akim Oda-Akwatia-Winneba Water Supply Project is being prepared for commissioning. Please put the devil to shame and give JM the credit when you commission it. Don’t believe your Minister for Water Resources & Sanitation if he tells you that the funding was sourced in H.E. Busia’s time, and H.E. Kufour planted a tree at the spot to signify sodcutting, and you built the whole system in ten months. If in doubt, just conduct a search on Google. Your Excellency, I don’t mean the ‘Jack Where Are You’ system please … ha ha ha! While we are at it, may I take the opportunity to point out that the following projects commissioned or inaugurated in the ten months you have been in office were all commenced and/or executed under President Mahama:

• On April 27, 2017, you cut the sod for the world’s largest LPG-fired Power Plant;

• On April 26, 2017, you commissioned an ICT Centre at Soabe in Denkyembour District of the Eastern Region; • On May 10, 2017, you commissioned the Kumasi City Mall;

• On May 17, 2017, your Minister for Health commissioned the Greater Accra Regional Hospital (former Ridge Hospital

• On May 24, 2017, your Minister for Fisheries commissioned the Elmina Fish Processing Plant; • On July 6, 2017, you commissioned the FPSO John Agyekum Kufour;

• On September 15, 2017, you launched the New National ID Card. Kro kro kro kro, hi hi hi hi Krohi krohi kro kro kro, hi hi, kro kro kro … … and Mr. President what is this new thing that anytime you goof and attention is drawn to it, you throw a fake Kwesi Botchwey report at the NDC, as though that will solve the problems of the nation? Please concentrate on easing the burden of the average Ghanaian Sir, and leave the Kwesi Botchway report alone, especially the fake ones. Who are those NPP birds twittering about the Kwesi Botchwey report?

The good professor says the version being bandied around is fake and is not the final version of his Committee’s report. Our General Secretary Asiedu Nketia and our National Organiser Kofi Adams have said on air that it is a fake report. When the denkyems (crocodiles) have come out of the river to declare that the report on the water-bed is fake, the bird perched on a tree in the hinterland says the report is true. Aaba! Did the bird use the Vice-President’s leap-frogging Ghana Post GPS to locate the address of the Kwesi Botchwey Report in the Oti River? … and who are those NDC birds chirping all over the place about the NPP KB Report – chirp, chirp, chirp?

Kindly varnish from my sight as I daydream in peace, recalling the story of Taka, Tika and Gangali on that beautiful day in July 2011 in Sunyani. Yes, the story JM shared with us at the Sunyani Congress. I guess a number of you have forgotten. Let me jog your memory … the Congress that gave Nana Konadu (NDP) 3.1% of the votes.

Ahaaa … I knew you would remember that. We are indeed the great NDC and we fear no foe!!! Stop chirping and get with the programme … organize don’t agonise!!! Kro kro kro kro, hi hi hi hi … Mr. President, you are weaving your way towards the big black hole.

Your Vice President will not be able to help you Sir because he is already going over the brink. You positioned him during the campaign to sell empty stories, you positioned him to insult the sitting President and to label government corrupt and incompetent, you positioned him as an economic guru when you knew he had no ‘guruism’ in him … now he does not know what to do in Government

He is lost, sidelined by the monsters you have created … and when he has a chance, he squeals out of context still using your opposition campaign tactics that you taught him and coming across as incongruous and totally out of his depth.

Mr. President, Mr. President, Mr. President!!!

I called you three times please!!!

I am for peace … Shalom!!!

–

By: Godwin Akweiteh Allotey/citifmonline.com/Ghana
Follow @AlloteyGodwin

The post Valerie Sawyerr blasts Bawumia over digital address system appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.

The Vice President, Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia, had prior to the launch of the system, showered it with a lot of accolades saying it surpasses the ones used in the United States and the United Kingdom.

But Franklin Cudjoe thinks otherwise.

[contextly_sidebar id=”wrKSa4KUlecIIqrGEHgvBEClwryu637S”]To him, some of the data-sets being used by the app had long existed. He also raised issues with the integrity of the app with regards to security.

A data-set is a collection of related sets of information, composed of separate elements, and can be manipulated as a unit by a computer.

“To think that these basic mistakes are coming on the back of an app that has obviously been touted as something novel, the point really is that, it isn’t particularly novel given that it’s using engines that already exist. It’s just a location sharing thing. To think that you can call it innovative when basically you can input anything to generate any type of address is for me just not on. And I think that the developers should have taken time to deal with these basic challenges. These are not technologically challenging challenges at all, they are too basic,” Franklin Cudjoe argued on Citi FM’s news analysis programme, The Big Issue on Saturday.

President Akufo-Addo last Wednesday launched the National Digital Property Addressing System, also known as the Ghana Post GPS in Accra, aimed at providing an effective means of addressing every location and place in the country, using an information technology application.

The app has been criticized by some experts in the technology space.

Franklin Cudjoe, who has been a major critic of the app, had claimed that it might have been copied from existing applications.

He clarified that “the part about copying was not to suggest that they did something illegal – the point is that, location address using satellites or maps are not necessarily that new.”

Address generation bit amateurish

The policy think tank boss also described the address generation part of the app as amateurish, and not well thought through.

“I’ve read quite a number of reviews by industry watchers, and some of the comments they’ve made are not necessarily helpful – to think that you could input just any data and generate an address in itself sounds amateurish. There are basic web portals where you input any kind of data it could reject it, especially when you are filling forms. And to hear that obviously, that it is something with this app is quite troubling,” he added.

Hosting of app problematic

IMANI Ghana’s president also complained about suggestions that the app is being hosted outside the borders of Ghana.

“People have also talked about the hosting of this app. Some are saying it’s being hosted by Amazon and data protection issues are being raised.”

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By: Godwin Akweiteh Allotey/citifmonline.com/Ghana
Follow @AlloteyGodwin

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This is the belief of the management of Ghana Post, who are partnering a Ghanaian company, Vokacom, and the Ministry of Communications to roll out the system, known as Ghana Post GPS.

[contextly_sidebar id=”NIymfApPVvOR7DxGSCKH6kg6soEbUkuW”]The new Digital Address System, which generates unique postcodes to identify various locations in the country, gives the “business [Ghana Post] the opportunity to easily reach all Ghanaians and connect with all government agencies and other corporate networks.”

Ghana Post in a statement copied to citifmonline.com, said the development will “transform and formalize the economy.”

“The National Identification Project is the second most important process of formalizing the economy. The digital addresses is a key requirement during registration of citizens and residents…Digital Addressing will now be the single most important tool for all citizens to locate government departments, business partners, friends, and relatives accurately and quickly. This new addressing system will change the way we do things forever, and will therefore lead to a formalized economy as well as change the entire business landscape,” Ghana Post said.

President Akufo-Addo at the launch said, the government is committed to ensuring that the system is sustained and serves its purpose in enhancing business operations, and facilitating the delivery of essential health and security services across the country.

The management of Ghana Post said every location in the country had been addressed digitally with unique codes.

“The Addressing system is nationally integrated, and it will house a comprehensive database of all properties in the country.”

“The new Post Code Range is based on the regional telephone codes used by the erstwhile Post & Telecommunications, where 02 was for Greater Accra, 05 for Ashanti and 09 for Volta, etc. Ghana Post by this has set the stage for commercial focus for the country.”

“The location system comes with all the necessary security protections including but not limited to a privacy policy protected by the Data Protection Act 843, fortified architecture, various access level controls, and an inter-ministerial data privacy committee that will monitor and ensure the security of the entire system,” it said.

The management of Ghana Post further urged the public to patronize its services as it works to bring “efficient product and services to the doorstep of Ghanaians through the digital addressing system.”

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By: Jonas Nyabor/citifmonline.com/Ghana

The post Digital property addressing system to formalize economy – Ghana Post appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.

He noted that the system, which will be one of the most advanced in the world when rolled out, currently has 16.1 billion unique addresses.

The addressing system, he said, is part of the institutional reforms by the government aimed at easing business registration and other accountability and management purposes.

“It is more advanced than the United States or the United Kingdom or Germany because they are stuck to old technology, and we are leapfrogging. We are going to a new technology; we are going to GPS-based technology”, Dr. Bawumia said.

[contextly_sidebar id=”SCA8xSUzvs0MRJvqnF1EX6ZMbgeAlqZM”]The Vice President made the statement in a lecture dubbed ‘Developing Stronger Economies for the African Continent: the Missing Link’ at the 3^rd Advancement Lecture Series 2017, organised by the Institutional Advancement Office of the University of Cape Coast on Wednesday.

He explained that, the new digital addressing system, has unique postcodes for every location in Ghana, saying, “We have been able to put together 16.1 billion addresses: every five by five metres square apart in Ghana has a unique address.”

“What is even more exciting about this new addressing system is that, it was actually designed by Ghanaians in Dansoman. Our men and women are amazing, and they beat the international competition because we were wondering if our people can deliver it”, he added.

The digital addressing system is among a range of technological reforms by the New Patriotic Party (NPP) government, aimed at ensuring efficiency on the delivery of services.

Other similar projects include the roll-out of the National ID card as well as the paperless system adopted at the country’s ports.

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By: Joseph Ackon-Mensah/citifmonline.com/Ghana

The post Digital address system to cost $2.5m – Bawumia appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.

Speaking at the Golden Jubilee celebrations of the Paramount Chief of the Nsein Traditional Area, Awulae Agyefi Kwame II at Nsein in the Nzema East Municipality of the Western Region, the Vice President noted that the yet to be implemented address system will put Ghana ahead of the United States and other advanced country’s addressing systems.

He explained at the gathering that “we are going to launch Ghana’s digital address system starting next month. The president said he was in a hurry, so we are bringing out these major policy initiatives. We all know how difficult it is to find addresses in our country. So we have decided to use the most advanced of technology that is available to us in the world today. And we are moving towards a digital mapping system.”

Dr. Bawumia continued that “when we implement it, I argue that it is going to be the most advanced addressing system in the world. We will leapfrog above the United States, Canada, and the UK and have a very modern address system. …Even if you are standing in the middle of the sea within Ghana’s water, we will know your address.”

“We will know the address if you are in the middle of the farm, where nobody can see you, we will still know your address. If you are in a kiosk selling some yam, we will know the address of that kiosk. So it is really a remarkable address system that Ghana is about to have, thanks to the vision of Nana Addo Dankwa Akufu-Addo. Very soon, the education will start with the National Commission for Civic Education NCCE and others. It will really be a remarkable address system,” he added.

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By: Obrempong Yaw Ampofo/citifmonline.com/Ghana

The post Ghana’s digital address system will surpass US, UK – Bawumia  appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.

The former Valenciennes player, who played with Accam at the Right To Dream Academy in their formative years, says the Swedish-based player has been in good form this season helping his club in the league and especially in the Swedish Cup and with his regular appearances, meets the criteria given by Black Stars head coach Kwesi Appiah.

“He has had a great season in Sweden and if you look at the basis of current form for the coach’s selection, then Accam deserves a place in the final team. He has been playing and scoring and it is great that he has been called up but the final choice is for the coach.

However, I know David will come in and work really hard”, said Waris in an interview .

Accam has scored  6 goals in 9 matches since November 2013 but Warris believes Accam can provide a very important spark to the Black Stars attack.

“He is very quick and he loves taking on players. That is how he has been since I knew him from our time at Right To Dream. He likes running a lot and he can be a very good threat to defenders.”

Accam is part of the 26-man provisional squad list named by coach Kwesi Appiah for the World Cup ahead of the team’s training camp.

LISTEN TO THE ABDUL MAJEED WARIS INTERVIEW (from 32 minutes into the clip)

Waris is one of the players expecting a starting place at the World Cup.

SEE ALSO: Preview of Holland v Ghana May 31 international friendly

By: Nathan Quao/citifmonline.com/Ghana

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Show details

Special Ivory Coast edition: Didier Drogba speaks from the heart about wanting to break his nation’s World Cup group stage hoodoo.

With 13 days to start Brazil 2014, we hear from Ivorian coach Sabri Lamouchi and striker Salomon Kalou on the pressure to deliver for millions of frustrated fans.

Victor Ikpeba, 1997 African Footballer of the Year rewinds time to *that* infamously disallowed penalty of Afcon 2000. Plus he’s sure that at least one African side will go very far in Brazil. (by GH One TV’s Samuel Bartels)

New Ghana sensation Abdul Majeed Waris has scored nine Ligue 1 goals in 2014 – more than any other player in the league – except Zlatan Ibrahimovic. The former Swedish league goal king opens up for a lengthy chat (by GH One TV’s Samuel Bartels, with Nathan Quao and Jesse Amponsah)

And who wins our Samsung Galaxy S3 mini this week?

_

Presented by Gary Al-Smith and produced by Nathan Quao/Gary Al-Smith for Citi FM & Supersport.com. Aired: May 30, 2014.

**Soundtrack details**
Song Title: Someway Bi
Artist Name: M.anifest
Produced by: Yung Fly
Singitdamnit Music/Cumbancha Music Publishing (BMI) 2013

More detail: www.facebook.com/FCAfricaRadio

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