December 2, 2010

The Member of Parliament for Manhyia, Dr Mathew Opoku Prempeh, has urged the National Security Apparatus to step up its work to clamp down cyber crime which has persistently increased in recent times.

The crime which was until recently alien to Ghana has suddenly become widespread and it is mainly perpetrated by the youth.

The MP’s call comes in the wake of the revelation at the opening ceremony of the first West African Cyber Crime Summit (WACCS) in Abuja, Nigeria, that Ghana has been ranked among the top 10 countries in the world where cyber crime, popularly known as 419, is most prevalent.

Nigeria, by far, leads the African group with eight per cent rate of the crime, followed by Ghana and Cameroun with 0.7 and 0.6 per cent, respectively.

Speaking on Oman FM Thursday morning, the Member of Parliament for Manhyia, Dr Mathew Opoku Prempeh, stated that the National Security with all its resources and expertise must rather busy itself with finding solutions to such criminal acts and not engage in trivialities such as going round to seize cars belonging to political opponents of the ruling government.

“The national security apparatus must be seen to be protecting Ghanaians irrespective of which party they belong to, and not be used as a political tool to harass political opponents’’, he said.

He noted that the tag on Ghana as one of the leading countries in the world where such fraudulent act is rife is most unfortunate since it lowers the esteem of Ghana as a country internationally.

Hon. Dr Mathew Opoku Prempeh, called on the National Security to effectively collaborate with the relevant stakeholders to ensure that the canker of cyber crime is brought to an end completely or curbed.

Story by : Kwadwo Anim/ghanamps.gov.gh