The Member of Parliament for Ofoase-Ayirebi and former Minister of Information, Kojo Oppong Nkrumah, has described the government’s proposed Cyber Security draft bill as dangerous.
He asserts that the bill, if implemented, will criminalise speech, akin to the new tangent the world is now towing, which made former President John Agyekum Kufuor’s administration to repeal the Criminal Libel and Sedition law.
Speaking with journalists in Accra on Sunday, October 26, 2025, Mr. Oppong Nkrumah expressed that he is not surprised the sector Minister has proposed such a bill for Parliament’s consideration, citing comments made by President John Dramani Mahama himself.
He said the President’s comments are what have led to the bill with provisions as dangerous as criminalising speech. “From what I have seen as a former Information Minister, this draft is dangerous, though it’s not surprising,” he stated.
“It’s not surprising because I think the President first announced that they are going to use the National Security apparatus to go after people who make comments on social media that they consider, for whatever reason, whether it’s under hate speech or under whatever classification, unfavourable.
“They’re going to search for your IP addresses and then get the security apparatus to go after you. The President himself said it,” Oppong Nkrumah explained. “So, it’s not surprising that his Minister is now following up with a draft bill with such sweeping provisions,” he reemphasised.
On why he deems it dangerous, the lawmaker explained that: “Over the last several decades, various countries have been moving away from criminalizing speech,” he noted, adding that there are other means by which the government can attain its objectives without criminalising people’s utterances.
“There are other remedies for speech that may be deemed unfavourable, most of them civil, but not necessarily criminalizing it,” he stated. “And that’s why you would recall that even the Criminal Libel and Sedition Act was repealed by the Kufuor administration,” he said in addition.
The lawmaker also believes there are still certain laws that inherently criminalise speech, calling for such laws to be repealed as well. “There are still remnants of laws that still seek to criminalize speech. For example, this law that is being invoked frequently – publication of false news with intent to cause fear or panic is one of those laws that actually still needs to be repealed,” he stated.
He warned the government to tread carefully in its attempt to criminalise individuals for making comments deemed not to be in their interest.
“Instead of repealing laws to advance democratic freedoms, the government is now seeking, through this draft it wants to consult on, to enact legislation that will ensure that when you post a comment in your chat groups and they find it offensive according to their criteria, you could face jail time. And I think it’s a very dangerous encroachment into the realm of free speech,” he cautioned. “The government needs to tread cautiously.”
Oppong Nkrumah, however, expressed optimism that the government would revisit its stance on the bill when consultations begin, and instead repeal existing laws that criminalise speech rather than adding more.
“I’m hopeful that when the consultations start, the government will see wisdom in reconsidering its approach and ensuring that, instead of seeking to further criminalize speech, even the remnant laws criminalizing speech should be repealed,” he stated.
Gov’t must bring programme documents for its initiatives before Parliament – Oppong Nkrumah
