How ACILA Saved Ghana’s “Spy Bill”

The last two weeks has been quite interesting on the news front with discussions on a serious matter, the so-called “Spy Bill”, dominating. As usual the opposition NPP and prominent lawyer Kojo Ace Ankomah and leading think tanks CDD and IMANI had declared a predictable stand---that they were opposed to the Bill, insisting that Ghana did not need to have a law that authorises lawful interception of postal packets and telecommunication messages to bust crime or prosecute those who engage in it and make our country safe.

In fact, NPP’s Kojo Kwarteng had reiterated the opposition NPP’s position in Parliament that they are opposed to the Bill and will not endorse its passage. This was also the position of the NPP, whose leader, Nana Akufo-Addo had also stated that he was opposed to the “Spy Bill”, adding that Ghana did not need the law.

Akufo-Addo’s mantra was also predictably repeated by IMANI’s VP Kofi Bob Bentil, Data Protection Commission Executive Director, Teki Akuetteh-Falconer, CDD-Ghana Deputy Director of Programmes, Franklin Oduro, and JOYFM’s own biased stand against the Bill. JOYFM’s unprofessional methods were so pathetically obvious that they did not report views that were in favour of the draft Bill and in the very few instance that they did, they buried the well explained views of James Agalga, Deputy Minister of Interior 10 paragraphs down their reportage.

Such blatant slanting of the reportage on this important Bill made Ghana poorer because Ghanaians are entitled not only to both sides of an issue, especially on an important issue as the “Spy Bill”, but more important we are entitled to an unbiased analytical reasoning and discussion. I am not a lawyer, so I can’t tell legalese from another, but I can distinguish unbiased reasoning from partisan reasoning and discussion.

I was therefore shocked beyond surprise when I heard on JOYFM’s March 1st programme a gentleman whose voice I had never heard before, William Nyarko, Executive Director of the US-based Africa Center for International Law and Accountability (ACILA) provide an unbiased analysis of the draft Bill, drawing on international human rights law, domestic law, and international best practice to conclude that Ghana needs to have the “Spy Bill”, but not in its current form. He then went on to provide concrete and alternative solutions to what needs to change in the draft Bill. I understand that he followed up with a memo to Parliament reiterating ACILA’s position.

By the time the JOYFM programme ended, all the “against” people had shifted their position to reflect the submissions of Nyarko, saying that the Bill is needed but not in its current form.

Days later, the Ghana Bar Association (GBA) also came out, saying that the Bill is needed, but certain provisions must change.

Now the discourse has shifted from no “spy bill” to we need the “spy bill” and that certain provisions must change, thanks to ACILA. Sometimes it takes an outsider to help us make unbiased and informed decisions on important issues.

I hope and pray that ACILA will not become partisan and biased like some of the people and partisan organizations styling themselves as non-partisan think tanks.

Based on Nyarko’s input and my own follow up analysis of the draft Bill, I fully support a revamping of the draft Bill “Interception of Postal Packets and Telecommunications Messages Bill, 2015” before it is passed by Parliament.