Posts

DIGITALIZATION: PASSPORT RENEWAL ONLINE APPLICATION PLATFORM ILL-DESIGNED

  Digitalization is supposed to not only bring efficiency to the operations of the service provider but also provide seamless customer experience and convenience to the consumer. Either way, digitalization with respect to Government-to-Citizen (G2C) interactions should allow for an enjoyable public service delivery. It is not a heart-warming digitalization experience trying to renew a passport on the e-government (Ghana.Gov) online application platform. The online passport application for both new and renewal has seven stages. Start, Applicant, Education, Citizenship, Guarantors, Witness and Preview. The functionalities in terms of the User Interface Design (UID) may be working but the User Experience Design (UXD) has been poorly done. We cannot invest in the digitalization of public services and yet not get the benefits anticipated. This article is to share my experience, more of frustration, trying to renew an existing passport online and to highlight how ill-designed the system
Post a Comment
Read more

INDELIBLE INK AND BIOMETRIC VERIFICATION: THE TRUTH AND MYTH

  Indelible ink has been used in Ghana in previous elections to mark voters as proof of voting and to publicly show that a particular person has already voted and cannot vote multiple times. This was a risk management and control tool to ensure elections were free and fair. The recent District Assembly elections conducted were done without the use of indelible ink for the reason that the biometric voter database and verification system, is robust enough and that there is no need for the tested use of the indelible ink. Not using the indelible ink in the District Assembly elections cannot be seen as a test run for the general elections in December 2024. In any event, even the District Assembly elections had in place a fall back by using photo IDs and a printed voters’ register for manual identification. We should be mindful that a District Assembly election is not the same as a national election where the stakes are much higher to ignore the need to use the indelible ink. Technically
Post a Comment
Read more

BIOMETRIC VOTER REGISTRATION DATABASE REQUIRES NO ID CARD FOR VOTING

INTRODUCTION  The Electoral Commission (EC) before the 2020 elections made it known to all Ghanaians that the voters’ register that was used during the 2016 elections was not credible. They argued that the database was blotted with foreigners, minors etc. The panacea according to the EC was a new software with enhanced facial biometric features to go with an upgraded hardware and a data centre to secure the data. The people in whom the sovereignty of Ghana resides, through Parliament, voted money for this audacious exercise of having a credible register and we all had our biometrics captured to preserve our democracy. Great news! Now the flood caused by the spilling of excess water from the Akosombo dam in certain parts of the Volta region would cause most of the affected persons to lose both their voter’s cards and national identity cards. The worry is how they would be able to vote in the District Level elections in December, 2023 and the National Elections in 2024. The good news i
1 comment
Read more

HIGH COURT (CIVIL PROCEDURE)(AMENDMENT) RULES, 2019 (C.I. 122) NEEDS CLARITY

 INTRODUCTION This article is a review of the High Court (Civil Procedure) (Amendment) Rules,2019 (C.I. 122) that amended Order 7 of the High Court (Civil Procedure) Rules, 20004 (C.I. 47) to allow service of a process or document on a party by electronic means. The crafting of C.I. 122 is bound to have implementation challenges if not addressed. The traditional world has obviously moved on to the digital world and every country is creating an enabling legal environment for this new world and it goes without saying that human advancement will naturally come with issues. A myriad of legal issues that need to be addressed in this digital economy relate to inter alia; validity of documents by way of signatures, privacy and anonymity, evidence and acceptance of electronic documents, electronic contracting, electronic fraud or computer fraud and its related matters, protection of data, freedom of information, electronic money and payments. Some countries have taken the lead, others have
Post a Comment
Read more

SIM REGISTRATION SYSTEM IS ILL-DESIGNED

  What is the purpose of digitization? What is the purpose of digitalization? What is the purpose of capturing user biometrics? What is the purpose of the SIM registration? There can be so many textbook answers to the questions, but the simple and ultimate goal is for Consumer protection and convenience as well as for Organization efficiency and seamless service delivery. We have been asked to register our SIM Cards and the touted reason is for our protection against fraudulent activities which is laudable. The registration process, however, has not been without issues because the system design is flawed and seems not to have been developed from the users’ or consumers’ experience perspective. Technology is an enabler but if not well designed can be a burden, costly without achieving the needed benefits to both the Consumer and the Organization. It will bring more inconvenience to the Consumer and a waste of resources to the Organization. This is what I see in the SIM registration sy
Post a Comment
Read more