The largest opposition New Patriotic Party(NPP) leader Nana Addo is urging parliament to kick against the passage of the Postal Packets and Telecoms Messages Bill which is currently before the House for consideration.
In his estmation, the 2016 Presidential candidate of the opostion NPP contends the spy bill won’t mean well for individual’s freedom of expression and privacy.
“This law should not be passed; it poses potentially a major threat to individaual’s freedom of expression and privacy. Essentially this bill gives the state unfettered discretionary access to the private calls from correspondence of individuals,” Nana cautioned while delivering his version of the real State of the Nation Address Monday.
Deputy ranking member of the Defense and Interior Committee, Major Derek Oduro (rtd) has insisted the spying will only be done on people considered a security threat to the nation.
The object of the controversial bill, he said is to fight crime, suppressing organised crime including money laundering, terrorism, narcotic trafficking, identifying theft and generally for the protection of national security.
But , Nana Addo has dismissed the need for the legislation of such bill, and commended the minority for taking a strong stance against the bill.
He could not fathom why the Right to Information bill, has rather been consigned to the backburner.
“…the irony is that the Right to Information bill which on the other hand will rather enhance individual freedoms and good governance by providing further access to public information all in the spirit of transparency and accountability has rather been put on the back burner…Obviously it’s not one that excites the president because it provides sunshine on corrupt practices,” Nana Addo stated.
