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GOVT INTENDS TO TAP INTO
ALL PHONE CALLS IN GHANA
Kwaku Kwarteng
(MP),
November 11, 2015
Section 7(a) subsection 4(a) of the Communications
Service Tax (Amendment) Act of 2013 permits
government to set up a common platform to verify the
actual revenue that accrues to service providers so
that the right taxes can be charged.
Section 7(b) subsection 6 of the law then goes on to
state the following:
“The monitoring mechanism referred to in subsection
(4)(a) shall not have the capability to actively or
passively record, monitor, or tap into the content
of any incoming or outgoing electronic
communications traffic, including voice, video or
data existing discretely or on a converged platform
whether local or international.”
What this means is that the law does not want
government to listen in to calls by individuals or
be privy to the content of their communications
while monitoring the telecommunications service
providers for tax compliance. Indeed, the law does
not even want government’s monitoring mechanism to
have the capability to actively or passively record
or tap into the content of people’s communication in
any way.
But strangely, two weeks ago, government informed
Parliament that in the course of this section of
Parliament, it intends to bring the Electronic
Communications (Amendment) Bill 2015 for Parliament
to pass into law.
In this amendment, government wants to repeal
section 7(b) subsection 6 of the Communications
Service Tax (Amendment) Act of 2013. This would make
it lawful for government officials to tap into
anybody’s communications be it phone call, text
message, email, video, etc.
Whatever is motivating such a government policy, if
this law is passed by Parliament, its implications
for our private lives and the business community
will be very negative. Many investors would
gradually move their businesses out of this country,
and new investors would think twice before coming to
do business in Ghana. Unemployment will go up and
poverty will increase.
In any event, why should the Mahama government be
interested in tapping into phone conversations or
communication between say a man and his wife, or a
mother and her son, or a young lady and her fiancée?
This is a bad and ill-motivated amendment bill.
Government should abandon it now!
Kwaku Kwarteng (MP),
Deputy Ranking Member,
Communications Select Committee of Parliament
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