Redirecting traffic from official presidency website to your private website offends national security — Oliver Barker to Mahama

President John Dramani Mahama has come under fire for redirecting the official website of the Presidency, presidency.gov.gh, to his private website, johnmahama.org.

Critics argue the move raises serious national security, administrative, and legal concerns.

The redirection was observed following President Mahama’s inauguration on Tuesday, January 7, 2025. While no official justification has been provided, it has drawn condemnation from legal and security experts.

Private legal practitioner and convenor of the Fix the Country Movement, Oliver Barker-Vormawor, expressed his concerns in a Facebook post on Friday, January 10, 2025.

“The official Government of Ghana Presidency domain, presidency.gov.gh, has been redirected to President John Dramani Mahama's campaign website, johnmahama.org. This is pretty unfortunate and flies against everything administratively proper. In fact, this offends our national security strategy, if not several laws,” Barker-Vormawor stated.

He emphasized that the Presidency's official website and social media handles are part of Ghana’s Critical National Information Infrastructure and should not be used for political purposes or redirected to a private platform.

“This act couldn’t have been done without someone having access to the back end of the government domain and a sign-off by someone who should have known better. This is why there is an Office of Legal Counsel to the President. Get legal advice before you act. Cross-check three times.”

He urged the presidency to investigate the redirection, issue an apology, and restore the official website’s functionality.

“When Raymond Atuguba was Executive Secretary, no decision was taken without cross-checking it multiple times to ensure it didn’t violate any laws or practices. This oversight needs urgent rectification.”