SOFTtribe raid unacceptable – Mahama

Former President John Mahama has described the raid of an Accra-based IT firm SOFTtribe by National Security operatives as unacceptable.

According to him, the government is using the National Security machinery to infringe upon the human rights of Ghanaians.

National Security Operatives on Tuesday conducted an operation to reportedly secure database belonging to the Ghana Water Company Limited (GWCL) from the firm.

The operation followed a complaint by the GWCL to National Security was to safeguard the database, access to which had been deliberately blocked by the company.

According to National Security Sources, the company was holding the database, which is critical for billing customers, to ransom, after GWCL served notice it will not renew its contractual relations with the IT firm.

But Mahama in a statement said regardless of the nature of disagreements between SOFTtribe and the Ghana Water Company Limited, the forceful entry into their offices by armed National Security operatives is unacceptable.

“I associate with the justifiable outrage expressed by many Ghanaians this morning upon receiving news of a rambo-style raid on the offices of SOFTtribe. We all join in condemning the reckless invasion of their premises, and the seizure of electronic equipment including mobile phones of staff.”

“Over the years, SOFTtribe has proven to be a leader of local content innovation in IT. They are one of the indigenous companies that have introduced various digital solutions and impacted positively on payroll management and crime prevention among others. And, their footprints stretch beyond Ghana,” the statement said.

The statement added: “recent events appear to confirm our worst fears that the Nana Addo administration is determined to use the national security machinery to not only intimidate Ghanaians but to whittle away our hard-won rights guaranteed under the constitution of our Republic.”