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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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