Posted
on: www.dailyguideghana.com
By
William Yaw Owusu
Saturday,
July 15, 2017
Pressure
is beginning to mount on the government to arrest and prosecute former Minister
of Lands and Forestry, Inusah Fuseini.
Alhaji
Fuseini, who was also a Minister of Roads under President Mahama’s National
Democratic Congress (NDC) administration, made a shocking confession on Tuesday
when he admitted the installation of the secret audiovisual recording gadgets at
a hidden place in the office of the current Minister of Lands and Natural
Resources, John Peter Amewu.
He
claimed he planted the gadgets when he was a minister in that office before he
was sent to the Roads Ministry.
Curiously,
he left the gadgets in his former office, claiming that it was not working.
Naked
His
admission got his successor, Nii Osah Mills – who served under President Mahama
- boiling with rage because he said he had realized that for the two-and-a-half
years he occupied the office, he was ‘naked.’
Nii Osah
Mills, a lawyer who was once President of the Ghana Bar Association (GBA),
clearly was not happy when he got to know that Fuseini, the MP for Tamale
Central, had ‘spied’ on him for two years.
The
issue is taking a new twist with a call to prosecute the NDC MP, who is also a
lawyer.
Clarion Call
A member
of the Council of State and veteran lawyer, Sam Okudzeto, has joined the call
and said it was illegal for the former minister to plant the secret recorder in
the office when he was no longer the minister.
Mr.
Okudzeto said that in other jurisdictions the former minister would be facing
the full rigours of the law.
“It is
not allowed anywhere in the world. In fact, he should be prosecuted for doing
that,” the former GBA President told Class
FM in Accra.
He said
Fuseini should have removed the gadgets when his tenure of office ended at the
ministry.
Minister
of Communications, Ursula Owusu-Ekuful, has also said the former minister
should not be left off the hook.
Ms.
Owusu-Ekuful, NPP MP for Ablekuma West, urged the National Security to conduct
investigations and institute ‘punishment’ where necessary.
“It’s
against the law... even if you take a picture and you are not given the
permission to publish it, you can be sued, and so to fix a secret camera in an
office which is not your personal property, you have to take it off when
leaving the office. You have to take it to your house which is your personal
property, since he claimed it was a gift for him.
"It
was not right; maybe he might have forgotten but for all these years, he should
have remembered at a point . . . It must be investigated, even though he has
apologized because it might be intentional or unintentional,” she said on UTV yesterday.
According
to him, in spite of the former minister’s apology, "There should be some
form of caution or punishment to deter others from repeating it. He must not be
left off the hook just because he apologized.”
Data Protection
Already,
the Executive Director of the Data Protection Commission, Teki Akuetteh
Falconer, has said the former minister’s action might have ‘breached’ the Data
Protection Law.
Making references
to the Data Protection Law passed in 2012 on Joy FM, the executive director said there is a breach of privacy
and the law if one is recorded without his or her consent.
Quoting
Section 19 of the law, Ms. Falconer pointed out two conditions under which a
person may be put under surveillance.
“The law
states, ‘Personal data may only be processed if the purpose for which it is to
be processed, is necessary, relevant and not excessive,’ and added that ‘The
person to be monitored needs to grant consent.”
Criminal Offence
She said
it is a criminal offence to breach a person's privacy and added that the law
also provides the option for an aggrieved person to sue for the invasion of
privacy or lodge a complaint with the Data Protection Commission for
investigation.
Mr
Falconer explained that the purpose of the information is important in
determining the breach of the law. Even where the purpose is determined, another
question to consider is if there are other less intrusive means to monitor a
target.
Initial Discovery
The
discovery of the gadgets by the National Security set tongues wagging; and
immediately the incident occurred, fingers were being pointed at those
operating in the illegal mining sector because the current minister - Mr. Amewu
- is waging a relentless war on the illegal mining activities popularly called
galamsey.
Just as
the government was directing the Bureau of National Investigations (BNI) to
investigate the incident, Inusah Fuseini popped up, claiming ownership of the gadgets
and said he hid them there in 2013 for his personal protection because he was
then leading a clampdown on galamsey.
“It is
true that I was installing it in 2013; but we never got around to completing
the installation and so that is why when the national security did the swoop in
the office, they didn’t pick any signal because it’s not working,” he said.
Defective Device
He
claimed that the devices never worked because “somebody was doing it (for me)
but I didn’t have time,” adding, “While doing it he needed me in the office but
I didn’t have time so he couldn’t complete it.”
However,
a security expert with the Kofi Annan International Peacekeeping and Training
Centre (KAIPTC), Dr. Kwasi Aning, has called on the security agencies in the country
to invite and interrogate Fuseini over the spying equipment.
Dr.
Aning, who earlier said the ‘bugs’ found in the lands minister’s office was the
tip of the iceberg, noted that the words of Insuah Fuseini are a security
threat and that the issue is sensitive and must be clarified immediately.
“I think
a nice invitation by the respective security agencies will be fine. So the
agencies involved in the issue must invite him through the right channel since
he is a Member of Parliament, so we can clarify this as quickly as possible,”
he said.
On
Monday, news broke that operatives of the National Security had found gadgets
secretly planted in a plaque bearing the Coat of Arms of Ghana, which had been
hanged at a corner in the office of the minister.
The devices
are said to be very powerful, with an inbuilt camera, storage unit and another
device believed to be a transmitter.
According
to sources, the ‘highly’ sensitive device can pick a whisper about 35 feet
away, had been neatly put in a black metal box and uses batteries.
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