Vice-President Mahamudu Bawumia has launched an e-travel card to facilitate the cashless disbursement of travel allowance and other payments for local and foreign trips of public officials.

Speaking at the launch in Accra on Friday, 4 February 2022, Dr Bawumia said since independence, public officials are given cash for their imprest when they travel.

This system, he noted, has many associated problems including the risks associated with carrying cash, fraud in the disbursement of imprest, as well as ineffective monitoring and controls.

He said the increasing use of cashless payment channels in many jurisdictions makes it imperative for Ghana to change the status quo.

With the launch of the e-travel card, Dr Bawumia said the cash era has come to an end.

All public officials will be given e-travel cards and their imprest and per diem for trips automatically uploaded on it for use.

Dr Bawumia said the e-travel card is expected to deliver several benefits, including the elimination of the risk of carrying cash, ensuring transparency and accountability; encouraging the timely retirement of accountable imprest, improving monitoring and control systems regarding budgetary allocations for official travels to avoid overspending.

“The era of cash for travel in the public sector will soon be over, bringing further transparency and accountability in the use of public funds,” he added.