Don’t trust Speaker of Parliament ---Osei Prempeh

A former Deputy Attorney General under the Kufuor administration Hon. Osei Kwame Prempeh is asking Ghanaians not to trust the Speaker of Parliament Hon. Edward Doe Adjaho’s assurances, that there will be due diligence and consultations before the passage of the controversial Interception of Postal Packets and Telecommunications Message Bill, 2015.

According to him, he had known the Speaker to be somebody who is too partisan and so will support the National Democratic Congress (NDC) government in any decision even if that decision will be detrimental to Ghanaians.

Hon. Osei Prempeh said it is not enough for the Speaker to just say that the National Security and Defence and Interior Committee has assured him and the leadership of parliament that the bill will rather protect the interest of Ghanaians so there is no cause for alarm.

“I have worked with Hon. Edward Doe Adjaho for years and I know how he can mount strong defense when the issue concerns NDC.”

Government plans to pass into law what has been christened as “Spy Bill,” has been met with stiff opposition from several interest groups including the Ghana Bar Association (GBA).

This bill if passed, would empower the country’s security agencies to tap into private conversations and messages that transpire between individuals and groups.

But the GBA have argued that the bill contravenes article 18(2) of the 1992 constitution.

“No person shall be subjected to interference with the privacy of his home, property, correspondence or communication except in accordance with law and as may be necessary in a free and democratic society for public safety or the economic well-being of the country, for the protection of the rights or freedoms of others.”

Speaking on Oman FM National Agenda, Hon. Osei Prempeh, who opposed to the bill, believes government was being diabolical in its attempt to pass the bill.

He noted that the passage of the bill into law will result in trampling on the fundamental human rights of Ghanaians as guaranteed by the constitution.

He argued that for such a bill to be considered it must be first of all be taken to all the ten regions of Ghana for Ghanaians to make inputs into it.

Hon. Osei Prempeh recalled how Kufuor administration went all over the ten regions of Ghana as well as Germany, UK, Italy before it passed the Representation of People’s Amendment Law (ROPAL) and Interstate Succession Law.

He therefore charged government to organize open forum in all the regions to solicit views on the bill before it could be considered.

Story by: Michael Creg Afful

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