The Vice President and Flagbearer of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Dr Mahamudu Bawumia, says Ghana’s premier international airport, the Kotoka International Airport (KIA), will begin the use of eGates before the end of this year for check-in.
Dr Bawumia said this during a meeting with some religious leaders in Cape Coast in the Central Region on Monday.
“In fact, before the end of this year, if you arrive in Ghana at Kotoka International Airport, you don’t have to go to an immigration officer.
“We are putting together the eGate, just put in your Ghana card and it will open for you.
“The eGate will come into work in Ghana before the end of the year,” Dr Bawumia assured.
An electronic gate automatically processes passengers through passport control.
It uses facial recognition technology and e-passport to check one’s identity. It’s quick and secure.
One can use the eGates if he or she is 14 years or more and have an e-passport from an eligible country.
Vice President Bawumia had been meeting stakeholders across the country to solicit their input into the NPP 2024 Election Manifesto.
Dr Bawumia has been reiterating his plans to implement a flat tax rate in 2025 after granting tax amnesty to every individual in the country, stressing that the country’s gold reserves could be used to stabilise the Cedi.
He said his government would resource the Geological Survey Authority and technical universities to undertake exploration of the seven gold belts in the country in order to ensure that the gold concessions produced positive outcomes.
Moreover, he repeated his plans to establish a Minerals Development Bank to support small- scale miners to source funding for their businesses, noting that the sector could generate USD3 billion dollars annually.
On improving fiscal discipline, the NPP Flagbearer assured that his administration would make sure the Fiscal Responsibility Council operated independently with oversight over the Ministry of Finance.
He promised to downsize his government’s expenditure by three per cent of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP), which amounted to about GH¢30 billion every year.
