adverts
VIDEO: Most Community ICT Centres Destroyed by Previous Government – GIFEC Boss Alleges
The Chief Executive Officer of the Ghana Investment Fund for Electronic Communications (GIFEC), Dr. Rashid Tanko-Computer, has made startling revelations about the state of the country’s Community Information Centres (CICs), claiming that most of them were rendered non-functional or repurposed under the previous administration.
In an exclusive interview with Puretvonline, Dr. Tanko-Computer disclosed that nearly all CICs across Ghana had collapsed due to neglect and mismanagement. “The previous government wasn’t running them. Some centres were taken over by the police, fire service, Ghana Health Service, and the NIA, while others were simply abandoned and locked up for about eight years,” he said.
He lamented the collapse of the original ICT initiative intended to drive digital access in rural communities, describing it as a major setback to Ghana’s digital agenda.
adverts
As part of efforts to reverse the decline, Dr. Tanko-Computer revealed that the current government has begun rehabilitating the centres and equipping them with new laptops and desktops to make ICT services more accessible to underserved areas.
Touching on the quality of ICT equipment previously distributed to schools, Dr. Tanko-Computer criticized the standard of computers provided under the past regime. “Most of them had low-speed processors and RAM as little as 6GB, which made them inefficient,” he said.
He linked the situation to the controversial school WiFi scandal, adding that the Office of the Special Prosecutor was rightly investigating those involved.
Dr. Tanko-Computer also dismissed claims surrounding former Vice President Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia’s distribution of computers to students, which made headlines last year. “It was just propaganda,” he stated. “The computers weren’t of good quality and did not meet the digital needs of the beneficiaries.”
Despite the setbacks, the GIFEC boss said his outfit had successfully distributed laptops to various government agencies as part of ongoing efforts to support Ghana’s digitalisation agenda.
He reiterated GIFEC’s commitment to restoring the relevance of the CICs and ensuring that rural communities are not left behind in the country’s digital transformation.
Click the link Puretvonline.com | WhatsApp Channel to join the WhatsApp channel
GOT A STORY?
Contact/WhatsApp: +233243201960 or Email: manuelnkansah33@gmail.com
