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A week of office bugging, and matters arising

The past week has witnessed moments of office bugging, car bugging ad so on. Here's a review of the happenings.

The device was planted in the huge Coat of Arms plaque hanging in the far left corner of the Minister’s office.

The device included a camera, a storage unit and another device suspected to be a transmitter.

It was neatly housed in a black metal box and used batteries.

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The Minister, who has waged war against illegal mining in the country, had earlier said that he was surprised but does not suspect anyone.

Speculations were rife that the “big” men behind the galamsey menace may have been behind the bugging device.

But to the utmost dismay of almost everyone, the former Minister of Lands and Natural Resources, Alhaji Inusah Fuseini, revealed that he installed the spying device.

He said that the device was given to him by one Haruna as a gift in his early days as Lands and Natural Resources Minister and that he ordered its installation subsequently to enable him to monitor what went on in his office at the time.

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According to him, the hue and cry over the incident were not necessary as the device was not even fully installed.

His successor, Nii Osah Mills subsequently expressed disappointment at Fuseini for not informing him about the bugging device when he took over from him.

He said he felt naked about the whole incident.

Inusah Fuseini has since apologised for his actions, but many believe that should not be the end of the matter.

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Nevertheless, just when everybody thought that the bugging case had settled, it emerged that Ras Mubarak, the Kumbungu MP, also bugged his office and car during his term as the CEO of the National Youth Authority (NYA).

His action has so far cost the state agency over GHS15,000.

His successor, Emmanuel Asigri who disclosed this said the security device affected the ignition system of the car, resulting in a total change of the entire starting system of the vehicle before it could work again.

Meanwhile, the Kumbungu MP has described as “empty noise” the hue and cry surrounding the bugging of his office and the official car.

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According to him, he ordered the bug in his office to be removed as well as the one in his car to be deactivated before leaving office, and, therefore, does not see the whole “fuss” being created over the issue.

Now back to the main issue. There is no denying the fact that these two were government appointees and hence security should be of utmost interest to them.

But the worrying factor, particularly on the Fuseini angle, is the fact that he refused to inform his successors about the existence of the bugging device.

One may wonder whether his intention was to spy on Nii Osah-Mills and Peter Amewu.

Well, others might say that he eventually confessed. But could it be that he did that because he knew he would soon be exposed?

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What was his interest in the office after he had left anyway?

And the excuse that the device was not functioning before he left office does not hold. If it was not functional, why keep it there in the first place to create security fears for the other ministers.

Now, many fear that the case is a threat to national security and have since asked that the two – Mubarak and Fuseini - be made to face the law if they indeed broke any law by their deeds.

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