As the Chair of the sixth World Telecommunication/ICT Policy Forum (WTPF-21), the Minister for Communications and Digitalisation, Ursula Owusu-Ekuful presented a Report on the WTPF-21 to participants at the ongoing Plenipotentiary Conference(PP-22).
The report which was presented on 28th September, 2022 summarises the preparatory process, roll-out and outcome of the WTPF-21. The report, as presented by the Minister, covers five thematic areas as listed below:
• Enabling environment for the development and deployment of new and emerging telecommunication/ICT services and technologies to advance sustainable development
• Affordable and secure connectivity in mobilising new and emerging telecommunications/ICTs for sustainable development
• Digital literacy and skills for inclusive access
• New and emerging technologies and services to facilitate the use of telecommunications/ICTs for sustainable development
• Use of telecommunications/ICTs in COVID-19 and future pandemic and epidemic preparedness and response
Ms. Doreen Bogdan-Martin and Mr. Tomas Lamanauskas have been chosen by the International Telecommunications Union (ITU) to serve as the organization’s Secretary-General and Deputy Secretary-General, respectively.
The ITU Plenipotentiary Conference 2022 (PP-22), which takes place in Bucharest, Romania, from September 25 to October 14, 2022, has the elections as one of its goals.
The Minister for Communication and Digitalization (MoCD), Ursula Owusu-Ekuful, congratulated the individuals who had just been elected to prominent posts in the ITU body and promised the incoming Secretary-General of Ghana’s unwavering support and collaboration at all times.
Commenting on their individual profiles, she said that, Ms. Bogdan-Martin has over the years championed gender digital inclusion and youth empowerment, and that it was a fitting tribute to her tireless efforts that she becomes the first woman to lead the 157-year-old organization.
She added that she was yet another the first female elected for the position of Director of the ITU in 2018, noting therefore that she was confident that Ms. Bogdan-Martin would bring her experience to bear.
Also expressing the best wishes to Mr. Tomas Lamanauskas, the Deputy Secretary-General-Elect of the ITU, the Minister said she believes that he would work hard to assist the General Secretary to ensure the ITU achieves inclusive global connectivity and digital transformation for the benefit of all member-states.
Mrs. Owusu-Ekuful also assured him of getting the full support of Ghana to enable him to discharge his duties.
“Mr. Tomas Lamanauskas, Deputy Secretary-General-Elect is the youngest to take this position. Indeed, the ITU resolutions on gender and youth inclusion come to bear that we have already had a team of elected Secretary General and Deputy as a lady and a youth. This has so far been a truly historic ITU Plenipot, the most gender-responsive and youth inclusive ever. To our friends Gisa Fuatai Purcell and Dr. Chaesub Lee, we look forward to your continued support to the ITU,” the Minister stated.
She said that Ghana and all Member States were grateful for the leadership of the out-going Secretary-General of the ITU, Houlin Zhou, and his Deputy, Mr. Malcolm Johnson for the years of service to the ITU, adding that “we wish you a well-earned retirement”.
The Minister used the opportunity to encourage the other competitors who stood for the positions and lost.
She said: “Well fought and better luck next time and we hope to count on your rich experience for the benefit of all ITU Member States”
This year’s ITU Plenipotentiary Conference 2022 (PP-22) was the first gender-responsive Plenipotentiary. The ITU aims to reach the target of at least 35% of women participants, up from to 22% of women participants at PP-2014, and 29% at PP-2018.
The Member of Parliament (MP) for Ningo-Prampram, Sam Nartey George, has assured Ghanaians who have not been able to re-register their SIM cards that their cards will not be blocked after the Friday deadline.
The September 30 deadline is an extension of the initial deadline which was scheduled for July 31, 2022.
The minister said that the extension had become necessary owing to challenges such as delays in the rollout of a self-serving registration app and delays in the acquisition of Ghana Cards, which is the mandatory document for the registration.
“Upon consultation with the industry and in view of the challenges enumerated above, I have very reluctantly decided to grant a final conditional extension.
“The programme will be extended to September 30 to end on the anniversary of its commencement. That will give us one full year of SIM registration to be reviewed at the end of this month and any SIM that has not been fully registered by the end of August will be barred from fully receiving certain services including voice and data services. It will also be more expensive to use unregistered SIMs. The full range of punitive measures will be announced at another press briefing in September,” the minister stated.
The National Communication Authority, who affirmed the September 30 deadline for the exercise, announced that all SIM cards which have not been registered after the deadline will be totally blocked.
But, in a tweet shared on September 30, Sam Nartey George said that he is certain that no unregistered SIM card will be blocked after Friday.
“I am 100% confident that ABSOLUTELY NO SIM card would be blocked tomorrow!
“This is a victory for the Ghanaian people who are waiting on the NIA to produce their Ghana Cards for them. For God and Country,” parts of the tweet the MP shared read.
The deadline for SIM card re-registration ends today, September 30, 2022.
This comes after the Minister for Communication and Digitalisation, Ursula Owusu-Ekuful, extended the deadline for the sim card re-registration initially scheduled for July 31, 2022.
The minister said the extension had become necessary owing to challenges such as delays in the rollout of a self-serving registration app and delays in the acquisition of Ghana Cards, which is the mandatory document for the registration.
“Upon consultation with the industry and in view of the challenges enumerated above, I have very reluctantly decided to grant a final conditional extension.
“The programme will be extended to September 30 to end on the anniversary of its commencement. That will give us one full year of SIM registration to be reviewed at the end of this month and any SIM that has not been fully registered by the end of August will be barred from fully receiving certain services including voice and data services. It will also be more expensive to use unregistered SIMs. The full range of punitive measures will be announced at another press briefing in September,” the minister stated.
The SIM card registration exercise began on October 31 2021, and was expected to end on March 31 2022; however, as of March 17, over 14 million SIM cards had been linked to the Ghana Card, with over 10 million Bio-captures conducted and 99,445 new SIMs registered.
Due to some factors, including the fact that over 7.5 million citizens and residents were yet to obtain Ghana Cards to enable them to register their SIM cards, it was clear the deadline for completion of the re-registration of the remaining active SIM cards could not be met.
As a result, the ministry extended the deadline to July 31, 2022.
However, many are still facing challenges in acquiring their Ghana Card.
Some nine residents in the Ningo-Prampram Constituency have filed an interlocutory injunction to restrain the National Communications Authority (NCA) from implementing punitive measures against unregistered SIM card subscribers.
The NCA has said network subscribers who default will not have access to any services, as their SIMs will be deactivated after September 30, 2022. In a writ shared by Member of Parliament for the area, Sam Nartey George, on Tuesday, the applicants want the High Court of Justice to restrain the “blocking, deactivating, restricting, churning and/ or in any other way or manner limiting the Applicants’ use of their Mobile Phone SIM Cards and Network Services until the complete and final determination of the substantive application for judicial review.”
“Subscribers will have a period of six months to register to redeem their SIMs, failing which their numbers will be churned – that is, re-assigned to the pool to be sold to potential new subscribers,” the Authority added in its statement dated September 4, 2022.
Mr George, speaking to the media, explained that the applicants have been deprived of their Ghana cards despite registering with the National Identification Authority, thus the need to seek legal redress as their current situation is no fault of theirs. “These are citizens who have complied with the directive and taken every reasonable step to get registered. Whatever is left is outside their control. Either for the NIA to provide them with the card that they have registered for,” he worriedly revealed.
“Some registered as far back as 2019, and they still haven’t received their cards. Others have registered, and the NIA has asked them to come for it in December. So in this case, they can’t do anything except what they have done,” he added.
The major challenge affecting the ongoing SIM card re-registration exercise has been registrants not receiving their Ghana Card promptly after registration. This is because the national identification authority issued card is the sole identification document for the SIM card re-registration exercise.
On July 31, 2022, Mrs Ursula Owusu-Ekuful, Minister for Communications and Digitalization, “reluctantly” extended the SIM card registration deadline for a second time to September 30, 2022, with conditions. Mrs. Owusu-Ekuful acknowledged that the government was having difficulties with the exercise because of the delays in the issuance of the Ghana card during a press conference to announce the extension.
“Upon consultation with the industry and in view of the challenges enumerated above, I have very reluctantly decided to grant a conditional extension. The programme will be extended to September 30th to end on the anniversary of its commencement, “she said.
Delays in the issuance of the Ghana card was the largest challenge bedevilling this exercise. My information is that the NIA has not been able to issue all eligible
persons with the Ghana card,” she explained.
Due to the challenges it is facing, the NIA has said it will be unable to register all Ghanaians before the September 30th deadline. “We cannot do that. There is no way that the NIA can register those people. It is technically, physically impossible. We had said way back in March that it was impossible. I have said it is like expecting a maiden to make a baby every three months,” Executive Secretary of the NIA, Professor Kenneth Agyeman Attafuah, told the press on Friday, September 16, 2022.
Some Ghanaians have challenged the Authority to implement its initiatives as planned in light of public concerns regarding the sanctions implemented by the
NCA. The Communications Minister, in rebuttal to the numerous public concerns, has however, advised mobile network subscribers “not to blame your service provider” for the sanctions yet to be implemented, stating that “to be forewarned is to be forearmed”.
This, according to her, may be accomplished by concentrating attention on achieving the ICT-enabled sustainable development objectives and targets by 2030 within the next eight (8) years.
She said that the Ghanaian administration, led by President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, Co-Chair of the Group of Eminent Advocates for the United Nations’ SDGs, was dedicated to the international strategy of cooperating to better people’s lives all over the world through the use of technology.
“This is even more critical as the devastating impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on economies of all nations, makes it imperative for our governments to accelerate digital transformation as the key for our economic recovery,” she noted.
The Hon. Minister was speaking at a Round Table meeting today at the Ministerial Roundtable Sessions on the topic: “Building a Better Digital Future For All” at the Palace of Parliament, Human Right Hall in Bucharest, Romania.
The meeting forms part of preparations ahead of International Telecommunication Union (ITU) Plenipotentiary Conference, 2022 and it’s scheduled for September 26 to October 14, 2022.
The Minister said Ghana has started the preparation to facilitate the expansion of digital infrastructure aimed at opening up broadband access to accelerate the provision of meaningful content and smart services that would benefit all citizens in the country.
“The bridging of the digital divide is a major concern of Government and we continue to create digital opportunities for the marginalised, the elderly, and people in rural, remote, and underserved areas under our Universal Telecommunications/ICT Fund Management”, Mrs. Owusu-Ekuful said.
She, therefore, stated that the government was also implementing strategic policies that would ensure inclusiveness of inculcating basic digital literacy in the educational curricula and also putting up community-based digital laboratories while being mindful that digital skills development was the cornerstone of digital transformation.
Touching on the gender technological gap, she indicated that, Ghana had prioritised digital gender equality and that women and girls were encouraged and empowered to pursue Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) disciplines.
“We are committed to a cross-sectoral approach to development and enhanced collaboration with the private sector to aid rapid digital transformation. The Government of Ghana continues to work towards the creation of a fair regulatory environment and stability through the development of new spectrum farming policies to encourage the private sector to roll out new generation infrastructure and provide affordable and meaningful connectivity,” Mrs. Owusu-Ekuful said.
She emphasised the need to build confidence, trust, and security in cyberspace to promote a safe digital /ICT ecosystem.
“It was important to work with the guidelines provided by the ITU and other global cooperation networks, and also work with other neighbours to build a Regional cyberspace that would be resilient to attacks,” she added.
She noted that Ghana is committed to the global growth strategy that we have given ourselves under the guidance of the ITU to ensure that all nations pursue a path of digital transformation that will enhance meaningful universal connectivity and access.
With three days to the September 30 SIM re-registration deadline, the Communications Ministry is facing a flood of lawsuits against its determination to block unregistered SIM cards.
Sector Minister Ursula Owusu-Ekuful’s insistence that the date will not be extended has attracted widespread criticism.
Already Vice President of IMANI Africa, Selorm Brantie is leading some citizens to sue government on the matter in a bid to extend the deadline or do away with it altogether.
On Monday, another group, some of whom are constituents of Ningo Prampram filed a writ at the High Court seeking an injunction against the NCA and Attorney General on the exercise.
Speaking to JoyNews, the MP for Ningo Prampram Sam George said his constituents feel they will be punished for something beyond their control.
“These are citizens who have complied with the directive and taken every reasonable step to get registered. Whatever is left is outside their control. Either for the NIA to provide them with the card that they have registered.
“Some registered as far back as 2019 and they still haven’t gotten their cards. Others have registered and the NIA has asked them to come for it in December. So in this case, they can’t do anything except what they have done,” he said.
He further added that at least six lawsuits have been filed against the NCA on the matter.
On day two of the Ghana Canadian Diaspora Investment Summit in Toronto, Canada, which was organized by the Ghana Investment Promotion Centre (GIPC) to strategically engage the Ghanaian Diaspora in order to attract their long-term investments and partnerships for Ghana’s development, she gave the keynote address.
“Grow in Ghana, grow with Ghana” was the summit’s slogan.
Since June 2018, the Bank of Ghana has published a circular outlining the legal status of cryptocurrencies in Ghana, warning all financial institutions from engaging in cryptocurrency transactions and advising the general people to steer clear of any crypto platforms.
Meanwhile, the BoG is currently piloting its own central bank digital currency (CDBC) called the eCedi which, unlike cryptocurrency that is not backed by any currency or central bank, is backed by Ghana’s cedi and BoG, and can be trusted to be more stable.
But Ursula Owusu-Ekuful noted that whereas it is good for the Bank of Ghana to be piloting the eCedi, which is backed by the Ghanaian cedi, it is also important to acknowledge that cryptocurrency, which is deemed illegal in Ghana and many other countries, is happening and fast gaining legitimacy, so “we can no longer sit on the fence”.
The minister compared crypto today to VoIP (voice over Internet protocol) like WhatsApp call, Facebook call, Telegram call and others in the past, saying that VoIP used to be illegal, and several steps were taken to clamp down on operators that allowed it then, but today it is the norm.
“In the same vein, cryptocurrencies that are now illegal may very well become the norm many years down the line,” she said.
The minister’s call is no different from what the Chairman of Ghana.com, Professor Nii Narku Quaynor, said not long ago that Ghanaian regulators are dragging their feet on cryptocurrency like they did when he (Dr. Quaynor) first brought the internet to Ghana.
According to him, he virtually had to beg regulators to set out regulations for the internet so that Ghana could be the internet access hub for the whole of Africa, but they sat by and allowed foreigners to take over the space and spread across Africa before they finally designed regulations for him.
Dr. Quaynor, who is currently championing blockchain technology in Ghana, therefore called on the Bank of Ghana to stop restricting financial sector operators from transacting in crypto, and rather use regulatory innovation to position Ghana to benefit fully from the global blockchain revolution and its attendant technologies like crypto, DeFi (decentralised finance), NFTs (non-fungible token) and others.
It is worth noting that BoG has recently started Regulatory and Innovation Sandbox, which allows innovations around blockchain to be tested within that controlled environment.
Fintech
Ursula Owusu-Ekuful, however, lauded the central bank for creating the enabling environment through legislation for Ghana to now have one of the most dynamic financial technology (Fintech) industries on the continent, with 71 licensed players creating loads of jobs and also driving financial inclusion through innovation.
She noted that the Fintech industry has made payments at all levels very convenient, safe, transparent, and brought accountability to simple stuff like religious (church offerings) and social (funeral) contribution because funds given for such purposes could easily be tracked.
Continental payment cards
According to her, the talent and innovations in the Fintech industry clearly shows that there is no reason why Africans should keep using international payment cards like Visa and Mastercard and keep paying steep fees of up to 3.5 percent of the amount transacted, which end in foreign banks.
“Why can’t we develop our own local and continental cards and reduce the fees for our people and also keep all of that money within the continent to finance our development,” she asked.
“We have done it with mobile money, and I believe we can do it with payment and credit cards,” she said.
The minister believes even that need presents huge investment opportunities for Ghanaians in the diaspora to collaborate with the players in the Ghanaian Fintech industry to create such solutions for the continent.
COVID-19
According to her, COVID-19 gave rise to the adoption of digital technology in Ghana, and that became the silver lining for the country in the midst of the devastating impact of the pandemic.
She noted that Ghanaians were able to transition to digital platforms much easier and quicker because government had, since 2017, started implementing its digital transformation agenda which came in handy when COVID hit hard.
Ursula Owusu mentioned the paperless port system, digital address system, Ghana Card, mobile money interoperability, Ghana.gov, GhanPay, GHQR, e-procurement portal, e-justice system, smart workplace, drones for medical delivery and many others, all geared toward making government run more efficiently with less human intervention, reduced corruption and improved revenue collection.
She said government has since rolled out several digital technology interventions in education, health, agriculture and other areas to sustain the high digital adoption level among citizens and its attendant exponential growth in Internet usage.
According to her, government also gave out free spectrum to Vodafone and MTN to expand their capacities and effectively cater for the congestion that resulted from the boost in data consumption, adding that operators with 2G licenses were also allowed to deploy 3G technologies in unserved and underserved area without any additional licensing fees to allow easy access to high-speed data connectivity across the country.
Ghana Cares
She touched on the Ghana Cares Obatampa programme, saying it was designed to stabilise, revitalise and to create jobs and prosperity for Ghanaians over a three-year period in the post pandemic era.
Ursula Owusu-Ekuful told summit participants that the Ghana Cares programme is in two phases – a stabilisation phase that ran to the end of July 2020, and a revitalisation phase which is runs from 2021 to 2023.
“The first phase focused on stabilization of the economy, including food security, supporting buisnesses and workers, strengthen the health system, and passage of legislation to facilitate quick economic recovery.
“The second phase will focus on supporting commercial farming, and attracting educated youth into agriculture, building Ghana’s night manufacturing sector, developing engineering machine tools and ICT digital economy, developing Ghana’s housing and construction companies, and renewing and optimising the implementation of government flagships and key programmes…” she stated.
She said government is confident that the phase two programmes will move Ghana into the industrialisation and manufacturing phase, which then presents lots of investment opportunities for Ghanaians in the diaspora to form partnerships with both foreign and local businesses and take advantage of them.
The minister particularly laid out some investment opportunities in the technology sector that she believes Ghanaians in the diaspora can collaborate with locals and take advantage of.
AfCFTA Hub
In reference to the AfCFTA Hub, she said Ghanaians in the diaspora can create business hubs and connect with the recently launched AfCFTA Hub in Ghana so they could have easy access to SME producers and suppliers, as well as financiers and regulators in a one-stop shop situation.
According to her, such businesses can gain access to even more opportunities through the hub to the rest of Africa, and even make and receive payments in all currencies on the hub.
Ursula Owusu-Ekuful was also quick to diffuse the notion that the Ghanaian Government favours Chinese companies like Huawei and ZTE when it comes to investment in the tech sector, saying that the Chinese usually offer cost-effective solution, but there are still numerous opportunities that remain untapped in the sectors.
Canadian exports to Ghana have grown by 8.97 percent annual from US$23.8million in 1995 to US$372million currently, while Ghana is doing around US$100million worth of exports to Canada, and the minister said this provides the opportunity for Ghanaians at home and in the diaspora to partner and do more to bridge that gap.
Ursula Owusu Ekuful, the minister for communication and digitization, has suggested that stakeholders in the financial technology (Fintech) sector create a standard electronic payment card for Africa that will facilitate payments and eliminate the use of foreign payment cards like Visa, Mastercard, etc.
She argues that given that African Fintechs have demonstrated their capacity to produce these breakthroughs, Africans should not be required to pay service fees to these multinational corporations.
According to norvanreports.com, she questioned, “Why can’t we design our own local and continental cards, cut the fees for our people, and also keep all of that money within the continent to fuel our growth.”
“We have done it with mobile money, and I believe we can do it with e-payment and credit cards,” she said.
The Minister made the call when she delivered a keynote address at the Ghana Canadian Diaspora Investment Summit in Toronto, Canada, organized by the Ghana Investment Promotion Center (GIPC) under the theme, “Grow in Ghana, grow with Ghana”.
Ursula urged Africans to start exploring the digital world by pointing out that blockchain currencies may become quite ubiquitous in a few years, similar to how social media and the internet weren’t as widely used a few years ago.
In a similar vein, she added, “cryptocurrencies, which are currently illegal, may very well become the norm many years from now.”
The National Communications Authority has started rolling out punitive measures against users who have not finished their SIM registration, therefore customers flocked to different MTN branches to make sure their SIM cards are registered.
Some of the throngs of customers who had gathered at the MTN locations in Akweteyman and Kwame Nkrumah Circle on Friday, September 9, 2022, when GhanaWeb visited them, voiced anger about having to endure the punitive measures despite successfully registering their SIM Cards.
The customers claimed that this was significantly affecting both their personal and professional lives.
“I have had to leave my work just because of this. We are wasting productive hours for something that is due to no fault of ours,†a customer at the Akweteyman MTN office said.
Meanwhile, visiting the Kwame Nkrumah Circle branch of another service provider, Vodafone, there was relative calm with a little number of customers present for their SIM registration.
Some of these customers included those who had suffered punitive actions for not registering their SIM cards.
In the case of Vodafone customers, there were no incidents of registered users suffering punitive measures.
The NCA had announced in a press release dated September 2, 2022, that some punitive measures had been discussed in a meeting and will be rolled out from September 5, 2022.
Per this announcement, all unregistered SIM cards will be barred from receiving certain services, including all outgoing voice calls and data services.
Following the commencement of this action, many Ghanaians who subscribe to MTN services claim to have equally been affected despite having registered their SIM Cards.
Meanwhile, the Minister of Communications and Digitalisation, Ursula Owusu-Ekuful in a Facebook post has stated that there will not be an extension to the September 30, 2022 deadline for the registration of SIM cards.
“I informed the media during my most recent meeting that the SIM registration exercise would not be extended past September 30. After evaluation at the end of August, it has been determined that starting the disciplinary steps outlined in the NCA press release is prudent.
Additionally, any SIM that has not yet been completely registered will be unable to use voice and Internet services. Afterward, using unregistered SIMs will be more expensive. At a subsequent press conference in September, the full scope of the sanctions will be revealed. If you suffer that fate as a result of your own inaction, kindly do not blame your service provider. To be forewarned is to be forearmed,†the minister said.
Ursula Owusu-Ekuful, minister of communications and digitalization, has urged increased cooperation between security services to safeguard Ghana’s cyberspace, stating that a terrorist strike on the nation’s vital information infrastructure is “absolutely imminent.”
“Countries are now at war with hackers online, critical data is being stolen, and many institutions are facing ransomware attacks on a daily basis. In addition to these, violent extremists and terrorism actors are exploiting the various vulnerabilities of the Internet and networks to engage in acts that seek to undermine our personal and civil liberties,†Mrs. Owusu-Ekuful bemoaned when she spoke at the Global Internet Forum to Counter Terrorism (GIFCT)/Tech Against Terrorism (TAT) Multi-Sector Workshop on Countering Terrorism and Violent Extremism Online in Accra on Wednesday, September 7, 2022.
“As more activities move online, more opportunities will be created for anti-social elements to also utilise that same infrastructure to attack us. And, it is incumbent on all of us to work together to secure our cyberspace and digital infrastructure against attacksâ€.
According to her, online terrorist activities are a concern for every nation, and Ghana is no exception, hence, there is, therefore, a need for collaboration among nations and groups to expedite information-sharing, responses and coordination to counter such acts.
Need for cybersecurity cannot be overemphasised
She said accelerating and strengthening knowledge-sharing and best practices among tech companies, law enforcement and other relevant partners in cyberspace will place more attention on the issue of online terrorism and violent extremism, channeling more efforts into securing the Internet, deterring terrorism online, and protecting digital infrastructures in the process.
Ghana has, over the past five years, made strides in cybersecurity with the passage of the Cybersecurity Act, 2020 (Act 1038) with specific provisions for the protection of critical information infrastructures.
In addition, Act 1038 grants specific powers to law enforcement and intelligence agencies to resort to judicial processes to obtain the needed electronic information to assist with investigations and prosecutions of serious crimes, which include terrorism.
Prior to the passage of Act 1038, government had put in place several initiatives including the ratification of the Convention on Cybercrimes, also known as the Budapest Convention, and the African Union Convention on Cyber Security and Personal Data Protection, also known as the Malabo Convention, to aid in international collaboration efforts in the fight against cybercrime.
Collective security is at stake here
Acting Director-General of the Cyber Security Authority (CSA), Dr. Albert Antwi-Boasiako, said the digital revolution has led to the development of a number of Internet technologies which has made it possible for individuals and groups to communicate effectively across borders with increasing anonymity and speed to an almost limitless audience.
“The Internet remains the most equitable technological innovation for mankind with its full benefits to individuals and economies yet to be fully realised. However, the Internet technology has also created the platform for undesirable and dangerous activities.
“The use of the cyberspace and digital platforms for violent extremism and terrorist-related activities is an area of grave concern, not only to governments and its law enforcement agencies, but also the very organisations which own or deploy such technologies to users,†he said.
He said with the increasing dependency on networks and digital systems for socio-economic developments, malicious actors including terrorist groups are focusing on bits and bytes, rather than just bullets; and that any disruptive attacks by terrorist organisations against computer systems and networks could undermine socio-economic activities.
“Our collective security is at stake here,†he warned.
National Security Minister Albert Kan-Dapaah described the workshop as timely, given the current state of events in sub-Saharan Africa where there has been a steady rise in terrorist-related activities, saying: “Terrorist situation in the sub-region is direâ€.
He said since the turn of the 21st century, the Internet has proven to be an efficient and a dynamic way of communicating which keeps expanding its reach to all corners of the world; but the very features that made the Internet the preferred mode of communication today are the same features the terrorists are exploiting to embark on their nefarious activities.
The Government of Ghana, through the Ministries of Communicationsand Digitalisation, and Trade and Industries, officially launched the AfCFTA Hub earlier today.
The purpose of the AfCFTA Hub is to ensure that, in our quest to export our ICT goods and services across Africa and beyond, Ghanaian businesses have a trusted profile outside of Ghana, as well as to strengthen the industry and regulators to combat fraudsters who will also want to use AfCFTA to regionalize their nefarious activities.
We are announcing directives to accelerate the adoption of the AfCFTA Number and AfCFTACommon Transaction ID frameworks in Ghana for these and other reasons.
Beginning immediately, all individuals and businesses engaged in the courier, postal, delivery, logistics, ride-sharing, e-commerce, digital trading, or any other business of that nature must obtain a free AfCFTA Number at www.afcfta.app, the AfCFTA Hub Gateway.
We expect online service providers such as Uber, Glovo, Bolt, Jumia, Tonaton, Yango, Amazon, and others to ensure that all businesses registered on their platforms secure their AfCFTA Number and begin integrating their transaction processing systems with the AfCFTA Hub as soon as possible.
If done correctly, all customers of such businesses and services will be able to verify and validate their regulatory and compliance status, increasing trust in the marketplace, increasing uptake of digital services, suppressing fraud, and increasing the efficiency of doing business in Ghana and elsewhere.
The writer is the Minister of Communication and Digitalisation
Source: Myjoyonline.com
DISCLAIMER: Independentghana.com will not be liable for any inaccuracies contained in this article. The views expressed in the article are solely those of the author(s) and do not reflect those of The Independent Ghana
Not everyone will have Ghana Card by Sept. ending; It’s ‘Unrealistic’ And ‘Impossible’! – NIA Boss to Ursula
Executive Director of the National Identification Authority (NIA), Professor Ken Agyeman Attafuah seems to have burst Hon. Ursula Owusu’s bubble about getting all Ghanaians to register their SIM cards with Ghana Card by the end of September.
The Communications and Digitalisation Minister, Ursula Owusu-Ekuful, issued a directive to Ghanaians who haven’t yet engaged in the ongoing SIM re-registration exercise to do so or have their SIM cards deactivated.
She has extended the deadline for the registration exercise to the end of September this year hoping that all Ghanaians would have their SIM cards registered. This is the third time of extending the deadline for the exercise.
Deadline Extension
Speaking at a press briefing on Sunday, 31st July and later in an interview with Kwami Sefa Kayi on “Kokrokoo“, Hon. Ursula Owusu-Ekuful said; “Upon consultation with the industry and in view of the challenges enumerated above, I have very reluctantly decided to grant a conditional extension. The programme will be extended to 30th September to end on the anniversary of its commencement.â€
“That will give us one full year of SIM registration. It will be reviewed at the end of this month and any SIM that has not been fully registered by the end of August will be barred from receiving certain services including voice and data services,†she added.
It Is Not Possible
But days after her speech, the NIA – the body mandated to establish and manage a national data centre, by setting up a system to collect, process, store, retrieve and disseminate personal data on Ghanaian citizens and legally and permanently resident foreign nationals, and to issue national identity cards – says it will not be possible for all Ghanaians to receive their Ghana Cards to enable them register their SIM cards before or by the deadline.
Prof Attafuah who heads the NIA, stated on PeaceFM that there are some bottlenecks that need to be taken into serious consideration.
He was emphatic that not all the applicants will have their cards before the deadline because the NIA’s capacity is limited; pointing out that this is because the Authority has inadequate number of personnel to register all Ghanaians and distribute their cards to them by the end of September.
“We have opened 276 operational district offices. Every constituency has an office…On the 3rd of November, 2021, we opened 16 Regional offices and 276 district offices operational simultaneously which is a different case but they are all working. Initially, we had some resistance from some political quarters but the truth of the matter is that, at the end of the day, all these offices are functional and serving the good people of this country.
“Every Regional office has only 5 people. Every district office has only 4 people. During the mass registration, 16 people were in every registration center and in every district, there will be about 200 registration centers. Today, there is only one office in every district or municipality and it has either a maximum of five or a maximum of four”, he said.
Unrealistic Expectation
Prof. Ken Attafuah also added that the law that establishes the NIA didn’t take into effect the SIM re-registration exercise, explaining the law required the NIA to “exist in perpetuity and for Ghanaian to go there and register at their leisure and pleasure“.
The NIA, he expounded, “is like a hospital or a maternity ward; you go there when you need to after the mass registration but today, it’s become impromptu for everyone and the strength does not exist“.
Prof. Attafuah stressed; “It is an unrealistic expectation that we will be able to give all of them their cards…It is not possible to do that. What is possible, however, is to put in greater efforts and make sure as many as can get it can but to guarantee that every single one is not possible”.
“The number of SIM cards linked to the Ghana Cards are less than 15 million and yet we have issued more than 15.5 million, so that’s also another factor to consider. Also, by the NCA’s own statistics, it has not been possible since October 1st when they began to link all the available Ghana Cards to the SIM cards“, he further said.
He made these submissions during an interview on Peace FM’s “Kokrokoo” programme Friday morning.
Source: peacefmonline
DISCLAIMER: Independentghana.com will not be liable for any inaccuracies contained in this article. The views expressed in the article are solely those of the author(s) and do not reflect those of The Independent Ghana.
Article 1(1) of the 1992 constitution requires those in power to do things in the interest, benefit, and welfare of the citizens.
The sole card required by the Ursula Owusu-Ekuful-led Communication Ministry as the single document for the purpose of Sim registration is the Ghana Card. This is happening at a time when the institution responsible for the registration and issuance of the said Ghana card has said repeatedly that it cannot guarantee the issuance of new cards, correction of errors, and replacement of old card to all eligible citizens would be done by 30th September.
Shouldn’t those in office respect the constitution and its citizens, and do things truly in the interest of the people? Why should Ghanaians bear the brunt of the supposed power-play between the Ministry of Communications and the National Identification Authority (NIA)?
Does the Minister have any motive rather than seeing to the welfare of the citizens and if there is none, why the rush and the show of bravado against all the realities?
In the practice of good governance, the government and the Ministry of Communications should channel their energy and resources to the activities of the NIA to make sure every citizen acquires his/her Identity card before it becomes the single document for the registration of the sim cards.
Ursula Owusu must by now know that the new timeline given, is equally not feasible as the previous ones and is dead on arrival.
Also, the Minister for Communications must avert her mind to Chapter 26 (Miscellaneous), Article 296 of the 1992 constitution before her subsequent actions become inconsistent with the constitution.
Source: Ghanaweb
DISCLAIMER: Independentghana.com will not be liable for any inaccuracies contained in this article. The views expressed in the article are solely those of the author(s) and do not reflect those of The Independent Ghana.
The Minister of Communications and Digitalization, Ursula Owusu-Ekufulhas hit back at critics blaming her for challenges bedeviling the SIM card re-registration with the Ghana card.
Ursula Owusu-Ekuful said criticisms against her are unfounded, as she does not have oversight responsibility over the registration process.
She asked persons encountering challenges to seek help from the Interior Minister; Ambrose Dery and the Executive Secretary of the National Identification Authority (NIA); Ken Attafuah.
“The Ministry of Communications and Digitalization is not the supervisory Ministry for the NIA even though we collaborate and work with them. My hapless self has been roundly vilified for Ghana card challenges, which I am not responsible for. Prof. Attafuah and his Sector Minister, Ambrose Dery are available to answer any question,†the Minister said during a press conference on Sunday, July 31, 2022.
Ursula has come under intense public criticism after she warned that the deadline for the registration of SIM cardsin Ghana, will not be extended again.
Many had called for an extension of the re-registration deadline to the end of the year as the majority of Ghanaians had logistical challenges in obtaining NIA cards and using the same to register their SIM.
At the press conference, the Minister said the deadline had been extended to September 30.
The Minister for Communication and Digitalisation, Ursula Owusu-Ekuful, has disclosed that government will on Tuesday, August 2, 2022 launch a SIM card registration app as part of effort to address the challenges bedeviling the exercise.
The self-serve SIM card registration, according to the sector minister will come at a cost of GH5.
Speaking at a Press conference on Sunday, 31 August 2022, Madam Owusu-Ekuful stated that “the SIM card registration app will be ready for commercial launch on Tuesday 2nd August which will enable you to register yourself at the privacy of your home without having to queue or go to any network operator. Each registration via the app will be subject to a fine of GH5 surcharge, you will pay GH5 to register yourself on the SIM registration appâ€.
The introduction of the online registration exercise, she says, follows a consultation with various stakeholders for a smooth registration process.
The SIM card registration exercise which commenced on October 1, 2021 has been marred with several challenges including long queues at network providing centers, preventing a great number of citizens from partaking in the exercise.
With the Ghana cardbeing the sole identification document used for the SIM card registration exercise nationwide, some Ghanaians have not been able to register their cards due to the non-issuance of cards and card collection.
The Minister for Communication also ascribed the security situation in Bawku as another challenge bedeviling the exercise.
Meanwhile, the deadline for SIM cardsregistration have been extended to September 30, 2022.
“I have very reluctantly decided to grant a final conditional extension. The programme will be extended to 30th September to end on the anniversary of its commencement. That will give us one full year of SIM registration.â€
MTN-Ghana has launched an internal campaign to motivate its staff to facilitate the SIM registration exercise.
The campaign dubbed: “GRAB, CHECK AND ACT (GCA)†is to encourage all staff, irrespective of their role to assist with the registration of customers.
A statement issued by the Acting Chief Corporate Services Officer for MTN, Nana Kofi Asare, said all MTN Staff have been tasked to check the registration status of customers they interacted with so that unregistered customers could be assisted to do so.
The statement also said MTN has deployed its field agents to communities with lowest registration numbers to get the customers registered.
Providing further details Chief Sales and Distribution Officer of MTN Ghana, Shaibu Haruna, stated that efforts have been intensified to leave no one behind as the programme nears its end.
“We are nearly at the finish line and so we have intensified our efforts to reach out to all our customers.”
He further entreated all customers rolled on to various data packages to ensure that SIM cards in their modems and other smart devices are registered.
“We have created many channels (including our online portal  simregistration@mtngh.com) to ensure our customers register with ease. We are encouraging them to use the available channels that are convenient for them to speed up the registration process,” he added.
The mandatory SIM card registration exercise commenced in October 2021 as part of efforts to curtail fraudulent and criminal activities facilitated by mobile phones or SIM-enabled devices by helping the authorities to ascertain real numbers valid and accurate SIMs on mobile networks.
It is scheduled to end on July 31, 2022.
Minister of Communication and Digitalisation, Ursula Owusu-Ekuful, says her outfit would not extend the set deadline for the nationwide SIM card registration exercise.
Consequently, she said all unregistered SIM cards would be deactivated by the end of July this year, and advised mobile phone users yet to register their SIM cards to do so to meet the deadline.
Minister for Communication and Digitalisation, Ursula Owusu-Ekuful, says the government is setting up a data exchange hub to make uniform data across all sectors of the economy readily available in the governance process.
Speaking at the World Development Report 2021 launch, a country dissemination workshop in Accra, the minister said: “We are working on a data exchange hub. We see that it will be difficult to store all our data in one location, but what will make it possible for us to access the health of data in several databases is putting in place a data exchange hub that provides the infrastructure protocols and framework for data-sharing across the public and private sectorsâ€.
She mentioned that sharing real-time information is also expected to improve security across the country, as the security and intelligence agencies can target scarce resources to where it is needed most based on timely and accurate data.
“The partnership between development partners, civil societies and government is expected to improve, as there will be more reliable and uniform data across all sectors of the economy readily available in the governance process,†Ms. Owusu-Ekuful said.
The minister revealed that on the commercial side, the government is looking to model a regulated commercial framework around big data. This will encourage institutions, both private and public, to generate more data.
The Big Data initiatives are expected to be deployed with a data governance framework that defines data value, data exchange protocols, security channels and protocols, data governance hierarchy, and data exchange dispute resolution protocols, among others.
The government is currently working on deploying Big Data across the country to rationalise the collection, processing, storing and sharing of data among government agencies.
“This is expected to be the next major jump on our journey to completely digitize our economy. Big Data is expected to come with the needed data analytics platform that will help make proper sense of all the data being mined across government. It will also help the government track trends across the ecosystem and make projections based on data modeling techniques that will be critical for decision-making across the spectrum,†Ms. Owusu-Ekuful said.
Big Data architecture also takes into consideration the data generated and stored within the private sector to ensure there is seamless sharing of data across both private and public sectors.
The Big Data regime is expected to bring transparency and efficiency to the way data is utilised. The built-in artificial intelligence component will ensure real-time updates of the different models for different stakeholders.
“The underlying infrastructure to ensure that we get more value out of this data ecosystem we are building is also being improved,†she said.
The government will then be able to make policy decisions based on data science and communicate effectively to citizens who will have access to the same data. This should improve the trust relationship between government and citizenry.
For instance, GIFEC through the rural telephony project is extending connectivity to the most rural parts of communities with shared community base stations, so as to enable all telco providers to provide services for rural folks without the CAPEX overhead on their part. This will facilitate access to the data ecosystem.
According to the WDR2021, this ecosystem includes data infrastructure policies, laws and regulations, economic policies as well as data institutions for effective implementation of these enabling frameworks. These building blocks of data governance together constitute a new social contract that seeks to deliver the potential value of data equitably, while fostering trust by safeguarding against data misuse.
Minister of Communication and Digitalisation, Ursula Owusu-Ekuful, says the Ministry would not extend the set deadline for the nationwide SIM card registration exercise.
Consequently, she said all unregistered SIM cards would be deactivated by the end of July this year, and advised mobile phone users yet to register their SIM cards to do so.
Mrs Owusu-Ekuful gave the caution during the climax of the Ahafo Regional celebration of the Girls-in-ICT Initiative held at Acherensua in the Asutifi South District on the theme “Access and safety.â€
The Girls-in-ICT initiative, one of the flagship programmes of the Ministry of Communications and Digitalisation (MoCD) was in line with the International Girls-in-ICT Day, an initiative introduced in 2012 and backed by all International Communications Unions (ITU) in the Member States.
It aimed at encouraging and empowering girls and young women to consider studies and careers in ICT in the growing fields of ICTs, enabling both girls and technology companies to reap the benefits of greater female participation in the ICT sector.
Under the initiative, 1,000 girls from selected basic schools in the Region had the opportunity to undergo a one-week intensive training in ICT in basic computing including programming, coding, gaming, scratch typing and a mentorship programme.
Mrs Owusu-Ekuful said mobile phone subscribers and users in the country had been provided with enough time and opportunity to register their SIM cards saying, “there is no way we are going to extend the deadline again.â€
She explained that SIM card registration was essential because the exercise would greatly help the country in its efforts to prevent online and cybercrimes that had become more sophisticated.
Touching on the Girls-in-ICT initiative, Mrs Owusu-Ekuful said the Ministry was determined to sustain the initiative to create opportunities for more girls to benefit from ICT education.
She emphasised that ICT education was not reserved for only boys and men, but for girls and women as well, saying girls also needed ICT skills to provide them with the needed exposure in the digital space.
The Minister for Communication and Digitization Ursula Owusu-Ekuful has debunked assertions that the National Communication Authority (NIA) is the only outfit mandated to conduct the SIM registration.
Responding to a statement on the floor of Parliament, the Minister indicated that she would not have commented on the issue if not for the reaction of the Minority Leader, Haruna Iddrisu, on the floor of the House since the issue is in court.
“We have heard the Chief Executive of the National Identification Authority describe the SIM registration as a useless activity,†the Minority Leader stated.
He further said the NIA and the Ministry of Communication would be hauled before Parliament to give reports on the National Identification exercise.
But, the Minister of Communication reiterated that the NIA has not said anywhere that it is the sole Authority mandated by law to conduct SIM registration in this country adding that the comment from the Minority Leader cannot be factual.
“The NIA is mandated by law to collect biometric information to issue a National Identification Card. The law also requires certain activities to be done if you require verification of the identity of the person to use the National ID card as a sole card for the purposes.
“So there is no law in this country which has given the NIA the authority to conduct SIM registration in the law. The SIM registration regulation makes it mandatory for only registered SIMs to be activated by any network operator. Any SIM which is not registered which is activated for use on any network in this country is being used illegally,†Mrs. Owusu-Ekuful stated.
She continued “We are seeking to correct that illegal use of SIM cards in this country.
The regulator of Mobile Network Operator in this country acting under the National Communication Law, the SIM Regulation Authority to direct that all SIM of this country being registered for use on networks. That is the prerogative of the National Communication Authority working in conjunction with the Mobile Network Operators.â€
The Minority members on the committee in charge of communication are demanding from the Minister for communication Ursula Owusu-Ekuful the outstanding audit report of her ministry from 2017 before the 2022 budget estimate of her ministry would be approved.
At a press conference today, Tuesday, December 14, 2021, the members indicated that the committee met with the Ministry of Communication and Digitalization and suspected some material violation had gone on at the Ministry.
They, therefore, suspended the meeting and will resume if the minister provides the committee with the four annual reports from her Ministry.
The annual report for the state entity has not been presented to Parliament since Ursula was appointed a Minister, the Minority alleged.
The Deputy Ranking Member of the Committee, Sam George said “it is telling that from 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019 and 2020, the ministry has not brought any such report.â€
On his part, the Member of Parliament for Banda, Ahmed Ibrahim, who is also a member of the committee speaking at the press conference emphatically stated that, until the Minister, provides the report, the committee will not be prepared to hear her on the estimate on the ministry.
He said the Minister assured them that three of the reports were ready, and she was willing to present them.
“She has assured us that three of those reports; 2015, 2016, 2017, will be provided, and we have indications that by Friday, an additional two, which will be 2018, and 2019 reports, will be provided. She should provide them for us to look at them.â€
Communications and Digitalisation Minister, Ursula Owusu-Ekuful has disclosed that mobile phone subscribers who refuse or are unable to re-register their SIM cards before December this year will have their cards blocked.
She announced that the re-registration of SIM cards will commence on June 30 till December 2021.
Speaking at the 5th Ghana CEO Summit held in Accra on Tuesday, May 18, 2021, the Minister said that this new directive from the government is to help clamp down on the activities of cybercriminals.
“We will register SIM cards and SIM enabled devices from next month. And when the exercise ends in December this year, all unregistered sims will be blocked.
“We must clamp down on cyber criminals hiding behind the anonymity of digital systems to commit anti-social acts and this exercise is a key part of that campaign,†Ursula Owusu-Ekuful said.
She explained that the inability of the Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo led government to embark on this project earlier was due to the lack of a secure database of Ghanaians.
“Our inability to do that in the past is largely being as a result of the lack a secure identity document to verify the identity of those who would register those SIMs.â€
All Information Technology Personnel in government agencies will soon be under the supervision of the Ministry of Communications and Digitalization.
This is to ensure that the personnel meet the standard of qualification and skills needed to execute their mandate.
According to the Communications and Digitalization Minister, Ursula Owusu-Ekuful, her ministry will soon commence an IT audit in the various institutions to ascertain the gaps and challenges and proffer solutions.
She said there is an ongoing dialogue with the Civil Service Commission to facilitate the move.
“For government to achieve an efficient and effective Digital economy, our IT personnel need to be equipped with the needed skills for a quality delivery hence a need for the Ministry of Communications and Digitalization to provide a supervisory role on IT persons.â€
Mrs. Owusu Ekuful told the media in Accra Tuesday.
Minister-Designate for Communications and Digitalisation, Ursula Owusu-Ekuful, has allayed public fears of Ghana approving and activating the 5G Network by telecommunication companies.
There have been public concerns about the high radiation effects associated with 5G internet with a possibility of Ghana considering it.
But responding to a question on whether there are plans to activate the 5G internet, Mrs Owusu-Ekuful said Ghana was far from activating it.
She indicated that if there were plans, stakeholders would have been engaged to look into it.
“There are a lot of myths surrounding 5G, most of which is untrue. Ghana is far away from 5G yet if approved, we would have discussions with stakeholders,†she said.
The outspoken Minister-designate made these comments during her vetting in Parliament.
5G Network
5G is the 5th generation mobile network. It is a new global wireless standard after 1G, 2G, 3G, and 4G networks. 5G enables a new kind of network that is designed to connect virtually everyone and everything including machines, objects, and devices.
5G wireless technology is meant to deliver higher multi-Gbps peak data speeds, ultra-low latency, more reliability, massive network capacity, increased availability, and a more uniform user experience to more users. Higher performance and improved efficiency empower new user experiences and connect new industries.
Ursula Owusu-Ekuful, Minister Designate for Communications and Digitalization has revealed that the introduction of the Kelni GVG platform made a cost saving of US$1.1 million monthly to government.
According to her all the laws regarding procurement in the Kelni GVG Common platform contract were followed.
“So Mr Chairman at every stage of the way, all the laws regarding procurement were followed to the letter in this case before the contract was awardedâ€
Mrs Owusu-Ekuful made the revelation when she appeared before the Appointment Committee of Parliament on Monday for vetting.
The nominee who was the first to appear before the vetting committee was the former Minister of Communications and Member of Parliament (MP) for Ablekuma West.
Mrs Owusu-Ekuful who has been renominated for the same position has been credited for championing the expansion of the telecom sector and digitization agenda of the country.
Mrs Owusu-Ekuful also explained that the equipment in the Kelni GVG platform is hosted at the National Communication Authority (NCA) and owned by the Government of Ghana unlike the previous case when venders owned and operated the equipment.
She said by abrogating the previous contract with SUBA Solutions and Afrowave and entering into another contract with KelniGVG alone they achieved a cost-saving US$1.1 million, saying that alone provided less cost but more value.
She said the common platform unlike the previous contract offers real-time monitoring of 2.5 billion transactions a day within the telecom sector IN calls, SMS, mobile money among others.
Mrs Owusu-Ekuful further explained that the common platform has four functionalities such as revenue assurance, traffic monitoring, fraud management and mobile money monitoring.
She announced the NCA and Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA) are expected to take over and manage the common platform for their regulatory purposes and to assist them to perform their obligation.
A statement from the Ministry of Communications has justified a transaction entered into by government to acquire the shares of AirtelTigo.
In the statement, the Communications Ministry said because of the huge impact that the telecoms sector has on the economy, it moved to clinch the deal with Bharti Airtel to protect Ghanaian jobs.
“Given the multiplier impact the telecommunications sector has on the economy and various related industries, the Government of Ghana has entered into this agreement to ensure that thousands of Ghanaian jobs are safeguarded.
“It is of critical importance that the telecommunications sector remains healthy, dynamic, vibrant, and most importantly, competitive,†parts of the statement from the Ministry read.
The statement further explained that the transaction will be soon be concluded by the execution of definitive agreements.
“The Government of Ghana through this transaction, will temporarily operate this national asset in the best interest of the nation, and ensure the protection of the interests of all employees, customers and stakeholders, and a continuation of the digital transformation in Ghana,†the statement read.
The cost of the transaction was not disclosed in the statement from the Communications Ministry but some reports say Bharti Airtel has told its shareholders that the shares were bought for about $25 million.
Important facts contained in the statement
Bharti Airtel in 2017 merged with Millicom’s Tigo in Ghana to become the country’s second-largest mobile operator, AirtelTigo, with the approval of The National Communications Authority.
AirtelTigo serves around 5.1 million subscribers and offers direct and indirect employment opportunities to almost 10,000 people.
Celtel International acquired 75% of Western Telesystems Ltd (Westel) from the Government of Ghana for $120 million in 2007.
Celtel was subsequently acquired by the Zain Group which also sold all its African Assets to Bharti Airtel in 2010.
The Government of Ghana remained a shareholder in Airtel Ghana with a 25% holding through the Ghana National Petroleum Corporation, until the AirtelTigo merger, and retained an option to acquire additional shares after the merger.
Westel was at the time of the takeover by Celtel, the second national operator in Ghana and was licensed to provide fixed and mobile (GSM) telecommunications services.
Millicom Ghana Limited was the first mobile telecommunications company to operate in the country under the brand name Mobitel before rebranding to become Tigo.
Minister of Communications, Ursula Owusu-Ekuful has advised Ghanaian electorates not to consider self-defence in the event of a physical confrontation during the December 7 polls their first resort.
Seasoned journalist, Kwesi Pratt has been advocating that the electorates should defend themselves against assailants who attempt to disrupt the elections.
“The court is not the only option; there are other alternatives…The law mandates me to apprehend and use reasonable force on you”, he said.
He urged the electorates to fight off such persons stressing ”the law grants everybody the right to self-defence if someone threatens you with a knife”.
But Hon. Owusu-Ekuful has vehemently dissented to Mr. Pratt’s self-defence assertions.
Contributing to the Friday edition of Peace FM’s ”Kokrokoo”, the Communications Minister urged Ghanaians to always report cases of violence to the security personnel who will be stationed at the polling stations.
She stated that the security services should be the first port of call in any riotous incident.
”Our laws permit self-defence but we don’t want law of the jungle, survival of the fittest…There are security personnel at every polling station because if we all say we choose to defend ourselves, nobody can vote. It will turn into chaos…I plead with all of us to adhere to the measures in place because it will help us. It’s our thumb that must speak, not who has the strongest muscle”, she emphasized.
She noted that the security services are at the polling stations to maintain law and order.
Communications Minister Madam Ursula Owusu-Ekuful has revealed that government is on course to implementing the free WiFi for all senior high schools project.
She said government has not abandoned that initiative and that plans are far advanced to ensure the fruition of that project.
She told TV3 in an exclusive interview after the launch of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) manifesto on Saturday, August 22 that the infrastructural framework for this project is being put in place to enable it to take off.
“We are putting in place the infrastructure for free Wifi for all our secondary institutions. We are connecting all government offices nationwide in all the districts.
“So we have been busy, the infrastructure is being put in place, within the next 12 months we should see it coming into fruition. Even before December but unfortunately most schools are currently closed.
“We are taking advantage of the closure of the schools due to the Covid-19 pandemic to complete the infrastructure rollout to enable the provision of these services. So we are very much on course.â€
Communications Minister, Ursula Owusu-Ekuful, has disclosed that Ghana has made savings of GH¢1.5 billion in under-declared taxes in the telecommunications sector since the implementation of the Common Platform (CP) managed by KelniGVG.
She told Parliament on Friday, August 7, 2020, that the introduction of the common platform has uncovered that, before the introduction of the policy, GH¢470 million in taxes was lost from potential under-declarations between 2015 to the first quarter of 2017.
Her revelations on the floor of Parliament were contained in her answers to various questions by MPs on the three-year deal.
“An estimated amount of GH¢300 million in taxes was also saved between the first quarter of 2017 to date as a result of the announcement of the implementation of the CP on March 8, 2017,†she told Legislators.
The Minister further disclosed that through the deployment of the Common Platform and the sophisticated, up-to-date fraud management systems, 150,000 fraudulent SIM activities were automatically detected from international calls into the country.
This, she said, has saved the country of tax fraud of an additional GH¢327.3 million from the activities of SIM Card fraud since the inception of the platform.
“Over the life of the contract, the CP is expected to deliver tax savings of approximately GH¢799.6 million“ the Minister stated.
According to the Minister, Mobile Money Monitoring has reported monthly usage for July 2020 of GH¢63.6 billion, 307.1 million transactions, with GH¢104.6 million generated by the Operators in transaction fees, with further breakdowns of transaction types for informed policy decision making.
Section 14 of the Communications Services Tax Act 2008 (Act 754), as amended by Section 7 of the Communications Service Tax (Amendment) Act, 2013, Act 864 mandates the Minister for Finance and the Minister for Communications to establish a common platform as a mechanism for verifying the actual revenues that accrue to service providers for computing taxes due to Government under Act 864 and revenues accruing from levies under Act 775 as amended by Act 786 of 2009.
KelniGVG was then contracted on December 27, 2017, to build and operate a Common Monitoring Platform (CMP) which is an integrated single platform connecting to nodes in the networks of all Mobile Network Operators (MNOs) and the Interconnect Clearinghouse (ICH) where traffic and revenues can be monitored.
The National Communications Authority (NCA) and the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA) are the implementing agencies and beneficiaries of this project.
Giving further benefits that the implementation of the CP has accrued to the country, Mrs Owusu-Ekuful also mentioned that the policy has resulted in savings of $1.1 million monthly over the previous contracts, resulting in a total of $66 m savings over the 5-year contract period.
Under the previous NDC administration, the NCA was paying $915,969 to Afriwave, while the GRA was paying $1,675,492 to Subah, bringing the total payments to $2,591,462 monthly.
The NCA, she said, now pays $596,490 and the GRA $894,735, a total of $1,491,225 to service providers.
“Additionally, unlike the previous contracts, the CP offers real-time monitoring of 2.5 billion transactions per day within the telecom sector such as calls, SMS, Mobile money transactions and other transactions,” disclosed.
The government has made savings of GHS1.5 billion in under-declared taxes in the telecommunications sector following the implementation of the Common Platform (CP) in the telecommunications sector since 2017.
“The introduction of the CP has uncovered that, prior to the introduction of the policy, GHS470 million in taxes was lost from potential under-declarations between 2015 to the first quarter of 2017â€, the Minister of Communication, Mrs Ursula Owusu-Ekuful said.
Answering questions on the floor of Parliament House on Friday, August 7, 2020, the Minister said “an estimated amount of GHS300 million in taxes was also saved between the first quarter of 2017 to date as a result of the announcement of the implementation of the CP on March 8, 2017.â€
Mrs. Owusu-Ekuful again disclosed that through the deployment of the CP and sophisticated up-to-date fraud management systems, the CP was able to record over 150,000 international calls into the country every month and thereby detecting fraudulent SIM automatically.
This, she said, has saved the country of tax fraud of an additional GHS 327.3 million from the activities of SIM Card fraud since the inception of the CP in 2017.
“Over the life of the contract, the CP is expected to deliver tax savings of approximately GHS 799.6 million,“ the Minister stated.
On Mobile Money Monitoring, the Minister disclosed that the CP has reported monthly usage for July 2020 of GHS 63.6 billion, 307.1 million transactions, with GHS104.6 million generated by the Operators in transaction fees, with further breakdowns of transaction types for informed policy decision making.
Giving further benefits that the implementation of the CP has accrued to the country, Mrs Owusu-Ekuful also mentioned that the policy has resulted in savings of $1.1 million monthly over the previous contracts, resulting in a total of $66 million savings over the 5-year contract period.
Under the previous NDC administration, the NCA was paying $915,969 to Afriwave, while the GRA was paying $1,675,492 to Suva, bringing the total payments to $2,591,462 monthly.
The NCA, she said, now pays $596,490 and the GRA $894,735, a total of $1,491,225 to service providers.
“Additionally, unlike the previous contracts, the CP offers real-time monitoring of 2.5 billion transactions per day within the telecom sector, such as calls, SMS, Mobile money transactions and other transactions.
Under Section 14 of the Communications Services Tax Act 2008 (Act 754), as amended by Section 7 of the Communications Service Tax (Amendment) Act, 2013, Act 864 mandated the Minister for Finance and the Minister for Communications to establish a common platform as a mechanism for verifying the actual revenues that accrue to service providers for the purpose of computing taxes due to Government under Act 864 and revenues accruing from levies under Act 775 as amended by Act 786 of 2009.
Pursuant to this, KelniGVG was contracted on December 27, 2017, to build and operate a Common Monitoring Platform (CMP) which is an integrated single platform connecting to nodes in the networks of all Mobile Network Operators (MNOs) and the Interconnect Clearinghouse (ICH) where traffic and revenues can be monitored.
The National Communications Authority (NCA) and the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA) are the implementing agencies and beneficiaries of this project.
The CP has four main components, that is fraud management, traffic monitoring, revenue assurance and mobile money monitoring.
President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has directed the Minister of Communications, Ursula Owusu-Ekufful to suspend her directive to the Ghana Broadcasting Corporation to shut down three of its Digital Terrestrial Television (DTT) channels.
According to the NMC, the Ministry of Communication is not mandated to issue such an order, submitting that, that order falls within the NMC’s remit.
“The Commission wishes to state clearly that the directive given to GBC and Crystal TV by the Minister for Communications purports to usurp the constitutional mandate and authority of the National Media Commission and same cannot be obliged under our current constitutional dispensation,†the NMC said in a statement signed by its Chairman, Yaw Boadu-Ayeboafo.
The Communications Ministry wrote to the state-owned GBC that it should reduce its channels from six to three “to ensure there is redundancy on the National DTT platform which is currently at full capacityâ€.
The Commission also explained that its mandate, “to insulate the state-owned media, therefore, enjoins the Commission to protect the Board, Management and staff of GBC from political interference as well as safeguard and preserve the entirety of state-owned media facilities, assets and other resources from governmental controlâ€.
According to the NMC, the constitution mandates the Commission the fundamental function “to promote and ensure the freedom and independence of the media for mass communication or information†and also “insulate the state-owned media from governmental controlâ€.
Yaw Boadu-Ayeboafo in the statement dated July 22 stated that any development that seeks to deprive the media of its use of resources legally allocated to them compromises their capacity to serve the country.
Crystal TV has mounted a defence against the order by the Communication Ministry, saying the directive can “destroy jobs and exacerbate the unemployment challenges in the countryâ€.
The NMC said the DTT platform is an essential part of broadcasting and should be “treated as media to enable it to benefit from all the freedoms guaranteed the media by the 1992 Constitutionâ€.
The National Media Commission(NMC), the agency charged with regulating the media space, has rejected a directive by Communications Minister, Ursula Owusu-Ekuful, to the effect that the Ghana Broadcasting Corporation (GBC) reduce its channels on the Digital Terrestrial Television (DTT) from 6 to 3.
Ms Ursula Owusu-Ekuful had directed that GBC reduce its channels so that they could be enough redundancy on the platform.
But GBC had stressed that it could not reduce its channels since, among others, all the channels were being used for equally important broadcasts and therefore petitioned the NMC to look into the matter as the regulatory body.
The NMC has responded by rejecting the directive, explaining that the directive is both unconstitutional and usurps the mandate of the NMC itself and so it will not approve it.
“The Commission wishes to state clearly that the directive given to GBC and Crystal TV by the Minister for Communications purports to usurp the constitutional mandate and authority of the National Media Commission and same cannot be obliged under our current constitutional dispensation,†the NMC said.
The commission noted that the directive if approved will limit the capacity of GBC in carrying out its mandate.
“It is the view of the Commission that any action by any entity which culminates into limiting or depriving the media of the use of public resources legitimately allocated to them undermines their capacity to serve the nation as anticipated by the Constitution….The Commission wishes to state clearly that the directive given to GBC and Crystal TV by the Minister for Communications purports to usurp the constitutional mandate and authority of the National Media Commission and same cannot be obliged under our current constitutional dispensation,†it explained.
The directive has been criticised by several bodies and many individuals. The Media Foundation of West Africa (MFWA) had even petitioned the NMC not to approve the directive.
The NMC was reconstituted by the Akufo-Addo administration in 2018. It is headed by Yaw Boadu-Ayeboafo.
Other members of the re-constituted commission include: Nii Addokwei Moffatt, representative of the Ghana Association of Writers, Rev. Dr. Mrs Comfort Asare (National Council of Women and Development), Mr Yaw Buabeng Asamoah (Parliament), Mr Kwame Anyimadu-Antwi (Parliament), Mr Richard Mawuli Quashigah (Parliament), Mr William Orleans Oduro (Ghana Bar Association), Mr Prince Hari Crystal (Ghana Independent Broadcasters Association) and Nana Addo Gyau Akabisa II (Ghana National Association of Teachers).
The rest are: Mr Roland Affail Monney (Ghana Journalists Association), Mr Bright Blewu (Ghana Journalists Association), Dr Andy Ofori-Birikorang (Training Institutions and Communicators), Joseph Debrah-Gyamfi (Trades Union Congress Ghana), Hajj Muhammed Amir Kpakpo Addo (Muslim Group), Sir Benedict Batabe Assorow (Christian Group) Mr Elorm Edward Desewu (Private Newspaper Publishers Association of Ghana) and Ms Elaine Sam (Institute of Public Relations of Ghana), Mr Yaw Boadu-Ayeboafoh (Office of President) and Mr Yaw Sarpong Boateng (Office of President).
The rejection of the directive will be welcome news for the many who criticised the Ministers directive.
Privately-owned Crystal TV has said it is “vehemently opposed†to a directive from the Minister of Communication, Mrs Ursula Owusu-Ekuful, to the station to reduce its three channels on the used-up 40-channel Digital Terrestrial Television platform.
In a letter to the Minister, Crystal TV said obeying the directive will amount to destroying jobs and exacerbating the unemployment challenges in the country.
It has, thus, urged the Ministry of Communication to review and withdraw the directive, which was contained in a June 26, 2020 letter that also affects state broadcaster GBC.
The management of Crystal TV said having had its channels authorised within the terrestrial sphere by the National Communications Authority, they can only be operated “on the only platform in the country which is permitted to carry FTA services.â€
“Therefore, removing any of our channels from the National DTT platform, will render the NCA authorisation unusable,†the letter said, noting that the directive, “automatically amounts to closing down the operations of our duly-authorised free-to-air broadcasting entities of over 25 years in existence,†Crystal TV argued.
“The directive, therefore, amounts to the revocation of the NCA authorisation as it will be rendered useless.â€
“We will find solutions that will reduce the financial burden on the central government in the running of the DTT platform and yet accommodate the free-to-air public broadcasting services which are adequately provided by the state broadcaster and private broadcast entities while paying the appropriate fee to continue providing the masses with the critical indispensable and necessary processes needed in a truly democratic and free societyâ€, the management said.
“We think as the ministry with oversight and responsibility for the growth and sustenance of the telecommunication industry in Ghana, you should be doing more to ease the constraints brought on by COVID-19, especially toward the broadcasting industry.â€
The Minister for Communications, Ursula Owusu-Ekufful, has justified the decision to shutdown three channels belonging to the Ghana Broadcasting Corporation, GBC.
The minister in a letter to the Director-General for the state broadcaster explained the move is to free up space on the DTT platform which she argues is full.
But management and board of GBC have taken issue with the directive compelling them to run to the National Media Commission for redress.
The GBC has six channels on the DDT Platform and the Communications Minister is asking the state broadcaster to consolidate their channels to three.
The minority through its member of Communications Committee Samuel Nartey George has accused the minister of stampeding the work of the state broadcaster.
But speaking to the media the communications minister explained she is well within her rights to take the decision aimed at freeing up space and reducing for maintenance of the DTT platform.
According to her, the NMC cannot compel the ministry to take back the directive.
“The fact still remains that the sole multi channel through which broadcasting can be transmitted in this country for now is full to capacity, there is absolutely no redundancy on it, for us as a country it is dangerous to be in this situation.
“Pending the acquisition of an additional multiplex which will provide for more capacity on that and it has absolutely nothing to do with spectrum…it is the multiplex which has capacity challenges and not spectrum and until such time as we acquire an additional multiplex to provide channels for broadcasting in this country, we have no other means of doing so and so a responsible ministry in a responsible government has take the only means available to it at this time to sit with those who have excess capacity on that multiplex to cede some of it for the security of our own state.â€
The Minister for Communications, Mrs. Ursula Owusu-Ekuful, will on Monday, June 1, cut the sod for the start of the construction of 30 Ultra-modern Community Information and Communication Centres in different parts of the country.
The ceremony would be held at Asuom in the Kwaebibirem District of the Eastern Region.
A statement issued by the Corporate Affairs Office of the Ghana Investment Fund for Electronic Communications (GIFEC) said the new centres would augment the existing 241 Centres in some other districts.
The Community Information Centre would serve as a non-profit community resource centre intended to provide business services and community-tailored development information to the communities within which they are located.
It would double as a hybrid profit-making telecentre, the statement said.
“The centres also provide online access to ministries, departments and agencies, other public and private institutions as well as educational institutions,” it said.
GIFEC would equip and manage the centres.
GIFEC, an agency under the Ministry of Communications, is mandated to facilitate the provision of universal access to all persons through the use of affordable ICTs for socio-economic development.
Residents of Chorkor, Chemuenaa, Shiabu, and its environs have rejected claims that they deliberately destroyed a bridge in the community.
The floating bridge which was recently constructed by the MP of the area, Ursula Owusu-Ekuful to facilitate the easy movement of the people across the Chemu canal connecting Chorkor to Shiabu in Accra was washed away by the heavy downpour on Sunday, April 26.
Speaking to pressmen in Parliament on Thursday, the MP who doubles as Minister of Communications bemoaned why some members of the community would actually plot to destroy the bridge which was serving the needs of the whole community just for their own parochial interest.
“It was some miscreants living in the community who tampered with the bridge leading to its collapse. It is not as a result of the flood as has been suggested by some people. The people who are making money from the people from their tolled bridges know something about this issue,†she lamented.
But responding to the allegations, residents say it was unfortunate for the MP to have claimed that the bridge was deliberately destroyed.
The residents who vented their anger in a report by Ablade TV said it makes no sense for them to destroy something that was serving them.
â€We have stayed in Chorkor Chemuenaa and Shiabu since childhood. We know too well the stream, oftentimes cars carry away several things like vehicles and kiosks. I, therefore, wondered about the type of bridge constructed, which as it were looked like a canopy walkway,†a resident said.
â€Your social standing should not be a basis to treat people with malice. Claiming the bridge was deliberately destroyed is an affront to us,†another resident said.
Another resident in the report said, â€Are we insane to destroy a bridge that easily facilitates our movement to and fro the community? There is a video of how the bridge was washed away. Has the minister not seen it yet? It was caused by rubbish. If funds meant for a better project were misappropriated, she should come clear.â€
The Member of Parliament for Ablekuma West, Ursula Owusu-Ekuful has hinted the constituency could possibly go on lockdown should residents fail to adhere to the social distancing rule.
The MP who is the current Minister of Communications was worried the cases in the constituency would escalate if efforts are not put in place to contain the virus.
The case count in the constituency she disclosed has risen to 79, a situation she said was worrying.
According to her, they only had two cases when the outbreak started and from what has occurred so far, it would be prudent to enforce the protocols in place.
She called on the security personnel to deal ruthlessly with persons who are violating the guidelines in place.
The MP stressed the authorities in the area would have no option than to consider lockdown in the areas that are mostly affected.
The constituency she said has been identified as one of the hot spots in the constituency.
Meanwhile, the Ghana Health Service says Ghana is at the peak of its coronavirus crisis.
The Director of Public Health at the Ghana Health Service (GHS), Dr Badu Sarkodie at a press briefing at the Ministry of Information in Accra today [Tuesday, May 5, 2020], in answering a question as to where Ghana is on the bell curve, said, “So to answer directly to the question, we are at the peak of the curve.â€
The Minister of Communications, Ursula Owusu-Ekuful has shut down the MTN office at Dansoman Zodiac for failing to adhere to precautionary measures to stop the spread of coronavirus (COVID-19), especially the social distancing rule.
The Minister who happened to pass in front of the office observed the operators did not put measures in place to ensure social distancing.
Infuriated by their disrespect to the social distancing rule, she stopped them from operating with immediate effect.
In a Facebook post by the Minister, she stated that the office will not be allowed to operate till they have better arrangements in place.
“This is the scene at the MTN office at Dansoman Zodiac right now. Absolutely no respect for social distancing. They have been shut down and will not be allowed to operate till they have better arrangements in place. Reputable corporate organizations like this should not be flouting the law and creating conditions for the virus to spread,†she wrote.
In a second post, the Minister cautioned other communications sector to take note of her action and comply or face similar actions.
“Social distancing wahala for MTN… I just happened to be passing by enroute to my office in the constituency and came upon the crowd outside their zodiac office. Shut them down. Other communications sector companies better take note and comply or else!! As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord!!,†she wrote.
Prince-Derek Adjei, a former Deputy Chief Executive Officer(CEO) of the National Youth Authority has invented a sarcastic proverb believed to be directed at Member of Parliament (MP) for Ablekuma West constituency and Minister of Communications, Ursula Owusu-Ekuful.
Following the collapse of a bridge, which had empty barrels under it, constructed by Ms Owusu-Ekuful across the Chemu Lagoon, Prince-Derek Adjei wrote: “when an †empty barrel†builds a Bridge with empty barrels, it floats away noisily with the Borla when it rainsâ€.
He described it as a Chorkor proverb but many on social media deduced that the words were meant for Ms Owusu-Ekuful who is in the news over the broken bridge.
Meanwhile Ms Owusu-Ekuful has attributed the collapse of the bridge to saboteurs who, she says, tampered with the bridge leading to its collapse upon the fall of the rains.
“When nation wreckers deliberately destroy a bridge meant to alleviate the suffering of many, you can only wonder what kind of people we are. For the commentators and media houses who blamed me, God have mercy on you,†she wrote on social media in the aftermath of collapse.
In the same vein, contractors, the River Restoration Limited, who executed the project, blamed the collapse on deliberately loosening of ropes that anchored the bridge to some concrete cast for strength.
“Some persons deliberately went and loosened the end ropes anchoring the concrete cast, which made the bridge shift from its original location, “Frank Ofori, an Engineer with the company asserted.
Meanwhile the Chief Executive Officer of the Coastal Development Authority, Jerry Ahmed Shaib, has lodged a complaint with the police to investigate the alleged sabotage of the bridge leading to its collapse.
Member of Parliament for Ablekuma West Constituency, Ursula Owusu-Ekuful, has claimed vindication over the collapsed floating bridge she constructed over the Chemu Lagoon.
This comes after critics blamed her for a poor work done after gushing waters from a heavy rainfall which occurred on April 26, 2020, washed away the newly constructed bridge.
An Engineer with the River Restoration Limited, however, blamed residents for the collapse stating that they deliberately untied ropes anchoring the floating bridge on Chemu Lagoon at Chorkor.
According to Frank Ofori, “Some persons deliberately went and loosened the end rope anchoring the concrete cast, which made the bridge shift from its original location. The bridge is not broken.â€
He further narrated in an interview that, when the team got there, they observed that parts of the bridge were dismantled and the barrels, taken away.
“I have the pictures and videos showing some residents were jubilating when the bridge was washed to another side. It is sad and surprising that people will sit and hatch such a plan because of reason best known to them. This is unpatriotic and must stop,†he said.
Following the assertions by Frank Ofori, the Communications Minister took to Twitter to register her innocence referring to the perpetrators as “nation wreckers.â€
She also lashed out at the media for ‘wrongfully’ blaming her for the poor construction of the bridge three months ago.
Ursula Owusu tweeted, “When nation wreckers deliberately destroy a bridge meant to alleviate the suffering of many, you can only wonder what kind of people we are. For the commentators and media houses who blamed me, God have mercy on you.â€
Below is Ursula Owusu’s tweet
When nation wreckers deliberately destroy a bridge meant to alleviate the suffering of many, you can only wonder what kind of people we are. For the commentators and media houses who blamed me, God have mercy on you https://t.co/9TMm2ZXCmT@Joy997FM@Starr1035Fm@Citi973
Minister for Communications, Ursula Owusu-Ekuful has blamed the media for the COVID-19 Application virtual concert controversies.
According to her, the media likes feeding on negative news.
She noted that if there is 99% good in something and 1% negative the media will choose to focus on that.
Ursula Owusu also cited the case of food distribution during the lockdown period of which she said benefited a lot of vulnerable people but the media sometimes choose to focus on the negative aspect of it.
In her view, there are many ways music could be used to make an impact that is why the Ministry opted for a virtual concert on a day that everybody was home.
Controversies
The virtual concert which was held on Easter Monday to launched the Covid-19 Application came under heavy criticism.
Critics of the concert believe the virtual event was a waste of money and time. They said the energy put into the event could have been channelled into more profitable things that will help prevent the spread of the virus.
They also argue that the Ministry of Information press briefings could have been used for the said purpose.
The app was aimed at helping health authorities track Covid-19 cases in the country.
For her controversial statement made on Asempa FM, last Thursday, Mrs Ursula Owusu has come under attacks from various quarters, the latest being from a foundation for the promotion of women interest in governance, Gratia Women of Substance Network.
The women group has also launched a blistering attack on the Minister, describing her radio comments as reckless, backward, undemocratic and injurious to the progress of the nation Ghana.
Under the signature of the Executive Director, Madam Theresa Gbekie, the women group demanded an immediate apology from the Communications Minister, so as to enable the country heal from her foul language.
Below is the full text of the statement
For Immediate Release
February 21, 2020
GRATIA WOMEN OF SUBSTANCE NETWORK CONDEMNS URSULA OWUSU EKUFUL ON HER RECKLESS PUBLIC UTTERANCES
The Gratia Women of Substance Network is a political women group that has occupied a political space in Ghana’s political jurisprudence over the years. It is in keeping with the organization’s mission for existence of empowering women, promoting gender equality and safeguarding Ghana’s fledgling democracy, it is issuing this statement.
The attention of the group has been drawn to a rather reckless, backward, undemocratic and injurious statement from Ghana’s Communications Minister, Ursula Owusu Ekuful on Asempa FM yesterday. The Minister in her interview said:
“We aren’t going to allow the NDC to ever come to power. Over our dead bodies. The real owners of Ghana are now in charge. Whatever opportunity they [NDC] had to govern in the past belongs to history but we are sounding a note of warning to them that they will never see power again. Ghana deserves quality leadership and not this bunch of incompetent people”.
The Gratia Women of Substance Network is of the strongest view that these statements are not only backward, tribalistic, undemocratic and insulting but unGhanaian and unpatriotic as well. It is again in view of this that we condemn this statement from Ursula Owusu in the strongest and unambiguous terms.
Ghana has come a long way in her journey into this democratic dispensation. The constitution of Ghana guarantees freedom of speech and free expression but the same law places on us some responsibility that we should guard and guide us in making statements that may be injurious and has tendencies of eroding our democratic gains. Such statements create the impression that apart from NPP no other party can rule Ghana and also confirms the suspicion that, this Government will do anything fair or foul to stay in power. The situation becomes even more worrisome when the party ( through their Government) has operated a training center that trains militias even at government installation, the Christianborg (Osu) castle, which is a security zone. We saw it in Manesseh’s documentary ” militia in the heart of nation”. There is rumours that they are still training more of their men at Bundasi ahead of the 2020 general elections. This we can’t accept and countenance going forward.
We demand that the minister as a matter of urgency publicly apologises and retracts the said statement as it may form a basis for others to respond in like manner thereby heightening tension in Ghana.
Communications Minister, Ursula Owusu-Ekuful, has defended an $89 million contract awarded to Kelni GVG to operate revenue assurance and traffic monitoring centre for Mobile Network Operators (MNOs).
The company was awarded the contract by government for the design, development and implementation of a common platform for traffic monitoring, revenue assurance, and mobile money monitoring and fraud management.
For a long time, the contract stirred controversy because critics said Afriwave and Subah Info Solutions were already providing the services that Kelni GVG has been contracted to provide.
Other industry watchers described the contract as a wasteful one aimed at stealing from the public purse. A key critic of the contract at the time was IMANI Africa, a policy think tank.
But at a press conference Thursday, the Communications Minister revealed that an estimated GH¢470 million in taxes has been saved since the first quarter of 2017 to date.
She said that after March 20, 2017, when the new contract came into force, there had been a marked difference in the Value Added Tax (VAT) and National Health Insurance Levy (NHIL) declared by the mobile network operators to the regulator, Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA).
“The question that one should ask is: what has happened between prior to March 2017 to post-March 2017 for us to witness those wide revelations in the declarations made on VAT and CST [Communications Service Tax] to the GRA.
“We state categorically that the only contributing factor was the establishment of a common platform and so the differences that have been noticed to the positive benefits that the common platform has brought today,†she told journalists.
She said the savings of GH¢470 million has happened because of the proper declarations of taxes by the MNOs to the GRA.
“It vindicates the resolve of the government to give effect to the law by putting in place the common monitoring platform to verify actual declarations of VAT and CST and other taxes in the sector and ensure that all the players in the sector pay their actual due to the ex-checker,†she stressed.
