A Ghanaian researcher based in the United States of America, Kingsley Komla Elikem, has said that he feels sad for the situation in which Vice-President Dr Mahamudu Bawumia finds himself because he should not have approved the $2.5million GhanaPost GPS app deal with Vokacom.
Vokacom developed the app to be used for Ghana’s digital addressing system but Mr Elikem argues the technology already existed on Google.
“There are examples in the United States, there are examples in the UK [so you say] I’m going to study what has been done and add on to it, but when you want to be over exuberant by saying things that: ‘damn what the US has done, damn what the UK has done, and we are coming out with something new’, and especially when you are not informed in the area, then you are bringing up too many issues that you yourself will not be able to answer and here it is.
“Unfortunately, I pity Dr Bawumia because I genuinely feel that, maybe he absolutely has no idea about this field, and, so, when the guys came and pitched the idea to him he bought into it but it is unfortunate because this is nothing new,” he said on Monday, October 23 in an interview with Moro Awudu on Class FM’s Executive Breakfast Show.
He added: “We didn’t need Ghana Post GPS. Ghana could have generated the numbers for free on Google. They could have added more to the existing apps available, and there was no reason to have given VOKACOM the same job to do.”
One of the lapses he pointed out was that the GhanaPost GPS app divides Ghana into grids of 5m x 5m, however, a plot of land in Ghana is usually 100ft x 70ft meaning a property on one plot of land will have more than one address.
Some other Information Technology (IT) experts who have reviewed the application available on various mobile operating systems have also given poor ratings of the app.
Below are steps on how to use the Ghana Post GPS
• You can use AsaaseGPS on your computer, phone, or tablet to search, explore, and find your way around Ghana.
• On your computer, open www.asaasegps.com, on your phone or tablet, use the AsaaseGPS app.
• Visit your App store to download the AsaaseGPS App for free from Google Play Store and Apple store for Android and IOS users respectively.
• Once the app is installed, follow the instructions to register, verify and confirm your login details.
• No payment is required to download or use the AsaaseGPS app.
How to verify your address
• Click on the menu button
• A menu will appear with a ‘Verify Your Address’ button
• Click on the button to verify your address
• A pop-up message will ask that you close or continue with the request.
How to generate your address
• Ensure your phones location button is turned on.
• Open the AsaaseGPS app and click on the button
• Your unique address will appear next to the Digital address, for example, Digital Address: GA-543-0125
• The first two alphabets represent the region and district. The 3-digit that comes after the first two alphabets is the postcode the last 4 digits represent the unique property address.
How to contact emergency services using the app
• Click on the emergency button
• Select the service you require i.e. Police Service, Fire Fighter Services or Ambulance Service.
• Type in additional information and click on the ‘Send Location’ button.
Source: classfmonline.com
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shame to everyone politicising this National economic issue. Question to answer is, is the app worth 2.5m dollars in a prudent spending dispensation? Period
THE "YOU & I WERE NOT THERE" MAN HAS FAILED AGAIN. THIS TIME IT'S YOU & I DID NOT KNOW. INCOMPETENT TO THE 10TH POWER BAWUMIA.
AM so mush ashamed of Bawumia . NKONTOPOHENE
The moment I read that Moro Awudu interviewed this kinsley guy, I smelled an umbrella. This is a guy I have known since 1997 at Adisadel College. In fact we were in same room of Ebiradze House. NDC sponsored his post graduate degree in the UK. DJ Smooth, Your propaganda will not wash
Who else will critise what is good for Ghana coming from NPP? Only the NDC devils will oppose what is done for Ghana by Nana Addo.Every app created from the beginning had challenges,so this Ghana post app will surely improve.
This is purely a pull him down attitude from this gentleman who claims to be an IT expert. The GhanaPostGP is not only meant for house addresses alone. It is meant for locating people where ever they are in Ghana. So your idea about the size of the plot of Land is total out of the equation. This is not a perfect app but with time, it is going to be better. The journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step. Let's encourage the Ghanaian Youth and stop this pull him down attitude.
VERY TYPICAL OF THESE NDC PEOPLE, LOOK HERE WE WANT OUR COUNTRY TO DEVELOP SO YOU CAN COME AND JOIN. YOU KNEW IT BUT DID NOTHING ABOUT IT, SOMEONE HAS DONE IT AND YOU HAVE THE GUT TO PITY SOMEONE ANNOYING. PITY YOURSELF!! YOUR PEOPLE USED 25M USD TO DO STREET NAMING HOW ABOUT PITYING GHANA?
People talk too much!! Aahhhh! Let this Komla Kingsley guy come and show us his portfolio! What has he ever done before in the Software Development world..?? This is how Windows 7 and Windows 10 started.....as MS-DOS!! It looked so dirty at those times, but it was well received and built upon to become what we see today as Windows Vista, 7, 8, 10! How much did Microsoft buy MS-DOS in those times from IBM..?? Ghanaians with FAKE IT degrees like this Komla guy should stop the propaganda and come down from that sh*it* hole to help Ghana develop! IF he knew it was available for free or could be developed and deployed in Ghana at a lesser cost, what prevented him from doing it 10 years Ago..????? FAKE GHANAIAN IT 'EXPERTS' parading around....! Ghanaians like it, we will build on it and it'll become homegrown. It is the same way, CHINA, ISRAEL, JAPAN, NORTH KOREA all started....from amateurish to professional...!!!
You new of this app and new Ghana needed this, yet, you didn't do anything about it. Someone saw need and ventured into it and now the too-knows come out to give their "expert" ideas. If I were this so called IT expert, I would think of how to better the Vokacom idea. After all interruptive tech is legal. Countries are thriving because they build on start up ideas but not destroy them. Think Ghana!
I am surprised at the judgments of the so called IT researcher. I am equally a known IT guy based in oversees. I am certainly out of politics but I was impressed to see our leaders thinking out of the box and beginning to roll out such projects. This is what we need in Africa my friend. Certainly I am sure your ideas and inputs could be welcome. This project is great whether the source code is out there or not. Have you asked about the man hours required to reprogramme or customize the application to our need. The application certainly have update life cycle so what is your problem. 2.5 mill USD as a budget for a national IT project even if its based on open source is not an overkill considering the required guys with the required set of expertise have to work on it plus costs of testing and equipments. I wonder if you are really an expert for questioning the need of a project simply because its source code are freely available. Did you hear of the US affordable Care IT Website? The cost was well over 20 mill USD but it needed massive improvement even after launch. Please do not talk as armature. Can you today use google gps to drive to your house accurately? At least this project affords many people this opportunity. Can we as people attempt to improve our lot instead of politicizing everything?