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The Africa Center for International Law and Accountability (ACILA) has welcomed the decision of the Government of Ghana to withdraw the “Interception of Postal Packets and Telecommunication Messages Bill, 2016, also known as the “Spy Bill” from Parliament, but urged caution.

A statement signed by Mr. Carl Mensah, Deputy Executive Director of ACILA, said that even though the decision is welcome, there must be cautious optimism since the controversial Bill was immediately replaced by a revised Bill.

Mr. Mensah said that the revised Bill must be scrutinized by all stakeholders and the public to ensure a proper balance between the state’s interest to fight crime and promote safety of citizens and its obligations to respect and protect the fundamental human rights of Ghanaians in the privacy of their communications.

The statement comes following the decision by the Government to withdraw the Bill after criticism by stakeholders, including ACILA, who had called for comprehensive changes to be made to the bill in order to ensure that the fundamental rights of Ghanaians are safeguarded in the Bill.

Deputy Minister of Interior, Mr. James Agalga, announced Government’s decision to withdraw the Bill last week.
“The withdrawal has been necessitated by certain critical issues that came up during the consideration of the bill by the Parliamentary Select Committee on Defence and the Interior, as well as the various memoranda submitted by interest groups,” he said.

Consequently, the Speaker of Parliament, Rt.Hon. Edward Doe Adjaho, informed Parliament about the withdrawal of the Bill and referred the replacement Bill to the Defence and Interior Committee for consideration.