Former Health Minister Dr Okoe Boye has urged government to reconsider aspects of the Cybersecurity Amendment Bill, warning that leadership must think beyond current political power, as future administrations could weaponise such laws.
He said governments must design laws assuming they will one day be opposition.
“If you’re in government today, if it takes 30 years you leave government,” he noted in an interview on Metro TV monitored by MyNewsGh. “Always be careful not to tighten the noose around people’s necks.”
He said new restrictive provisions suggest attempts to “tighten the rope,” arguing that existing legislation already provides safeguards.
“If all the laws we have are good enough to make the noose tight enough, you would not add an extra layer,” he said. “An extra layer means you want to tighten the noose.”
He pointed to political systems where intolerance leads to social upheaval.
“When people feel a leader is trying to suppress them, they go on the streets or stay silent until elections,” he warned. “A word to the wise is enough.”
Dr Okoe Boye emphasised that justice must remain independent.
“When you appear in court as government, you face a third party, that is the heart of fairness,” he said. “Don’t create a system where someone can be detained before guilt is decided.”
