Felix Kwakye Ofosu, Deputy Communications Minister
The Government of Ghana has no intention to eavesdrop on citizens’ private mobile phone conversations, Deputy Minister of Communication Felix Kwakye Ofosu has denied.
“What interest does Government have in listening to people’s private conversations?” he asked on the Morning Starr Wednesday.
“So, I can assure the public that those claims that government seeks to eavesdrop on members of the public are false. Government has no such intentions,” he emphasised.
Mr Ofosu’s denial follows an allegation by Obuasi West MP (NPP), Kwaku Kwarteng that the Government intends passing a law to that effect. He said a bill for that is currently before Parliament. But the Minority has vowed to resist it.
“We will fight it to the teeth”, Kwaku Kwarteng to Joy FM Tuesday.
Mr Ofosu explained that Government is only putting in place an Interconnect Clearing House to “guarantee revenue assurance and ensure that there is robust security around the way that telcos operate so that individuals and the state can be protected.”
A private ICT firm, Afriwave, won the contract for setting up the one-stop clearing house.
The firm will collect and collate call data and traffic and cross-network such communication between different mobile phone companies.
According to Mr Kwarten, however, the contract is currently being challenged in court.
“Telcos do not have the right to surrender [call traffic] to a third party,” he told Joy FM, fearing: “Government can now be privy to all the communication content that will go through ICH.”
Mr Ofosu, however, said the Government does not intend playing ‘big brother’ by ‘spying’ on Ghanaians.
