Empowering AI Governance: Ghana’s Visionary Framework for a Safer Future

AI Without Governance Is Dangerous – And Ghana’s Visionary Prompt Framework Shows a Way Forward

One evening in Accra, a young professional receives a WhatsApp voice note from her “boss”:

“Quickly send GHS 20,000 to this account for an urgent supplier payment. I’ll explain when I get back to the office.”

The voice sounds perfect. Same accent. Same phrases. Same little laugh at the end.

She hesitates… but only for a moment. By the time she calls to confirm, the money is gone.

This is no longer science fiction. Around the world, criminals are already using AI to clone voices and faces. In one widely reported case, scammers used an AI-cloned CEO’s voice to trick a bank manager into transferring about $35 million to fraudulent accounts.

Now place that technology inside a Ghana where:

Internet penetration is approaching 70%, with over 24 million users online.
Smartphones and social media are part of daily life in cities, towns, and even remote communities.

Suddenly, the line “AI without governance is dangerous” stops sounding like a conference slogan and starts sounding like a warning for every Ghanaian household.

Because AI is no longer “future technology.” It is here—with or without our values guiding it.

The Visionary Prompt Framework (VPF)

This is where a Ghana-born idea becomes important: the Visionary Prompt Framework (VPF) architecture, developed by Dr. David King Boison. While most people use AI tools to “just get answers,” VPF insists that we build a system around AI—one that protects people, honours culture, and thinks about future generations.

1. AI is powerful – but power without rules is risky

At its simplest, AI is software that learns patterns from data and then:

predicts things (e.g., who might default on a loan),
generates content (text, images, audio, video),
makes recommendations (who to hire, who gets a scholarship, who is “high risk”).

AI can help Ghana enormously. That is why the government has launched a National Artificial Intelligence Strategy (2023–2033) to drive innovation in agriculture, health, finance, education, and public services, while setting ethical and governance standards.

We also have:

The Data Protection Act, 2012 (Act 843) and the Data Protection Commission (DPC), created to protect privacy and regulate how personal data is processed.
The Cybersecurity Act, 2020 (Act 1038) and the Cyber Security Authority (CSA), set up to regulate cybersecurity activities and safeguard Ghana’s digital space.

So, Ghana is not naked. We already have laws, regulators, and an AI strategy that talks about ethical, secure, and inclusive AI.

But there is a gap. A recent policy analysis of Ghana’s AI strategy highlights weak AI-specific regulation, limited ethical oversight, and a need for stronger data governance and capacity-building if AI is to be truly responsible and inclusive.

In other words:

The paper is good, but the practice is still fragile. Technology is moving faster than laws. Deepfakes are getting more realistic every month.

Most citizens don’t know when AI is influencing what they see, hear, or receive. That is why we need more than regulation. We need a governance culture around AI. And this is where the Visionary Prompt Framework architecture becomes a powerful Ghanaian contribution.

2. What is the Visionary Prompt Framework (VPF) architecture?

Most people treat AI tools like magic calculators:

“Type a question. Get an answer.”

The Visionary Prompt Framework (VPF), developed by Dr. David King Boison, rejects this “one-shot answer” mentality. Instead, it treats AI as a conversation inside a system, guided by:

Chambers of intelligence (for example: Human, Artificial, Indigenous, Systems),
Lenses (Ethical, Justice, Future Generations, Cultural, Economic),
Modes and sub-modes (Story mode, Policy mode, Technical mode, Healing mode, etc.),
Execution levels (how deep, how wide, and how serious the response must be).

In simple terms: VPF forces us to ask better questions before we accept any AI answer. It is like having a structured conscience around the AI.

Instead of saying:

“Write me a political message that will go viral.”

VPF would push you to define:

What values must this message respect?
Who might be harmed or misrepresented?
What facts must be checked?
How does this affect children, minority groups, and social cohesion?

Instead of:

“Summarise this patient data and give a diagnosis.”

VPF would insist:

Are we respecting privacy laws (Act 843)?
Is the AI trained on data that actually looks like Ghanaian patients?
Is a human doctor still making the final decision?

So while traditional governance (laws, regulators, policies) works from the outside of AI, VPF works from the inside of every prompt and use case. It turns AI from a loose cannon into a disciplined tool that must constantly pass through Ghanaian values and future-thinking gates.

3. How VPF can strengthen AI governance in Ghana – with real scenarios

a) Preventing AI-fuelled misinformation and deepfakes

We already know deepfakes are exploding—fake voices, fake faces, fake confessions. Ghana’s National AI Strategy and the Cybersecurity Act both recognise the need to protect citizens and democracy from digital threats.

Now imagine a journalist, political communicator, or content creator using AI to generate or edit a video. Without governance, they might say:

“Make this video more dramatic so it trends.”

With VPF architecture, the conversation changes:

Ethical Lens: Is this content truthful? Are we artificially exaggerating or fabricating evidence?
Justice Lens: Could this content unfairly damage a person, tribe, or political group?
Future Generations Lens: If young people see this, what does it teach them about truth and politics?
Accountability Mode: If it turns out to be misleading, who takes responsibility?

In a newsroom, VPF can be embedded into editorial workflows as prompt templates that require journalists to:

Tag what is fact, what is opinion, what is speculation.
Log the sources and cross-checks used.
Run a “harm scan” before publishing high-risk AI-generated content.

This doesn’t replace regulation or fact-checkers—but it reduces the chances that harmful AI content will be produced in the first place.

b) Making banks’ AI fairer and safer

Banks and fintech companies in Ghana are exploring AI for:

Credit scoring,
Fraud detection,
Customer service.

The National AI Strategy explicitly encourages AI in finance but also calls for frameworks that protect privacy and fairness.

Here is the risk: if a bank imports an AI model trained on foreign data without proper oversight, it could:

Punish certain regions, surnames, or age groups,
Silently discriminate against women or informal workers,
Flag innocent transactions as “fraud” based on biased patterns.

With VPF baked into the design process, technical teams and compliance officers would be forced to prompt the AI system through specific “chambers” before deployment, such as:

Regulatory Chamber: Does this system comply with the Data Protection Act 2012 and DPC guidance on responsible data use?
Fairness Chamber: Have we tested this AI for bias across gender, region, language, and income level?
Human Oversight Chamber: At what points must a human banker review or override the AI’s decision?

VPF would also guide everyday prompts used by staff, e.g.:

“Generate a new lending policy explanation that is clear, honest, and does not exploit customers.”

Instead of manipulative scripts, the AI is constrained by VPF to favour clarity, respect, and long-term trust.

c) Protecting patients and students

In health and education, AI offers huge promise—but also huge danger if ungoverned. Ghana’s AI Strategy wants AI in healthcare and education to improve outcomes while respecting ethics and data protection.

Health example: A hospital uses AI to help triage patients. Without governance, it might over-prioritise cases that look like those in European datasets, under-diagnose conditions common in African populations, or mishandle sensitive medical data.

With VPF, prompts used to design and deploy the system would demand:

Explicit consent and anonymisation,
Inclusion of local clinical knowledge,
A clear rule that human doctors have the final word.

Education example: A teacher uses AI to generate lesson notes or practice questions. Without governance, AI might push content that ignores Ghanaian history, values, or language diversity—and students may use it to cheat rather than learn.

With VPF, prompts would:

Insist that examples reflect Ghanaian reality and culture,
Require the AI to suggest questions and discussion prompts, not ready-made essays for copy-and-paste,
Remind the user to credit sources and explain limitations.

In both sectors, VPF doesn’t replace teachers or doctors. It simply forces AI to serve their professional ethic, not undermine it.

4. How VPF complements Ghana’s existing AI governance setup

Ghana already has the legal spine for AI governance:

Data Protection Act, 2012 (Act 843) and the DPC to protect privacy and regulate data.
Cybersecurity Act, 2020 (Act 1038) and the CSA to secure cyberspace and critical information systems.
National AI Strategy (2023–2033) to guide ethical, inclusive AI development and data governance.

But laws and strategies alone cannot sit in every newsroom, every bank, every clinic, every classroom, every phone.

The Visionary Prompt Framework architecture is like a “micro-governance engine” that can live inside every AI interaction. It helps organisations translate national principles (privacy, fairness, security, human rights) into everyday prompts and workflows.

It helps citizens and workers discipline themselves: before asking AI to do something, they run that idea through ethical, cultural, and future-generation questions. It encourages developers to codify Ghanaian values directly into prompt libraries, templates, and usage policies.

Think of it as a Ghanaian safety belt for AI:

The law is the road design.
Regulators are the police.
VPF is the seat belt and airbag you use every time you drive.

5. What Ghana should do next

If we take seriously the statement “AI without governance is dangerous,” then we must also take seriously any tool that helps us build governance into daily practice.

Here are practical steps:

Embed VPF thinking into national AI capacity-building. Whenever ministries, agencies, universities, or corporate bodies train people on AI, include the Visionary Prompt Framework as a practical, Ghana-grown method for asking better, safer questions.
Encourage regulators to promote prompt-level governance. DPC and CSA can issue guidance encouraging organisations to adopt multi-lens prompt frameworks (like VPF) that operationalise privacy, fairness, and security at the point of use.
Ask media, banks, hospitals, and schools to co-create VPF-based prompt libraries. Newsrooms: prompts that demand verification and harm analysis before publishing AI-assisted content. Banks: prompts that check bias, explainability, and compliance with data protection rules. Hospitals: prompts that preserve confidentiality and enforce “doctor in the loop.” Schools: prompts that support critical thinking and avoid plagiarism.
Teach citizens simple VPF-style questions. Before you use or share AI-generated content, ask:
- Is it true?
- Who could this harm?
- Am I breaking someone’s privacy or dignity?
- If my child copied this behaviour in the future, would I be proud?
These are Visionary Prompt Framework questions in everyday language.

6. Conclusion: AI needs more than power – it needs a compass

Our elders say: “Sɛ onipa hu ne kwan a, ɔnsuro atuduro.”
(When a person knows the path, he does not fear the gun.)

AI is a powerful “gun” of our time. It can protect and build—or deceive and destroy.

Ghana has already taken wise steps: a National AI Strategy, a Data Protection Commission, a Cyber Security Authority, new policies, and guidelines.

But power needs more than laws. It needs a compass.

The Visionary Prompt Framework architecture, created by Dr. David King Boison, offers Ghana—and indeed Africa—a way to put that compass inside every AI conversation. Instead of simply “ask and receive,” it invites us to think before we ask, and to govern before we generate.

If we combine: