No plans to disrupt social media during polls - Ghana government

The government of Ghana has stated that social media will not be blocked during the upcoming presidential and parliamentary polls in December.

According to the minister of interior, Prosper Bani, the earlier proposal by the Inspector General of Police (IGP), Paul Kudalor, with respect to a possible ban had been taken out of context.

‘‘I would like to emphasize that as of today, and within the context of the upcoming elections, neither the government nor any of the security agencies has plans to disrupt social media,’‘ Bani stated.

He was speaking to a joint-high level delegation from the United Nations (UN), the African Union (AU) and the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) in Ghana’s capital, Accra.

Ghana’s police chief had hinted of a social media outage during the December elections citing the use of such platforms to create unnecessary tension, he added that it would be unwise if social media is not seen as a flash point.

“At one stage I said that if it becomes critical on the eve and also on the election day, we shall block all social media as other countries have done. We’re thinking about it,” Kudalor said.

His views were however stiffly opposed by a cross section of Ghanaians. There was also huge opposition from political parties and civil society groups.

The special representative of the United Nations secretary general on West Africa and Sahel (UNOWA), Dr Mohammed Ibn Chambas also waded into the conversation stating that the UN would not endorse any such ban.