Gov’t will not block social media during elections – Prosper Bani assures

The Minister of Interior Prosper Bani, says the government will not ban social media on election day, despite the proposal by the Inspector General of Police (IGP).

The IGP has recently reiterated that he still stands by his earlier intentions to ban social media during the election if need be.

“Social media is used to churn out untruths and half-baked truths and finally lies...we as the Police will not sit down for this to happen. We shall recommend that the Social Media is banned for the seven or eight hours that the election will take place, after all, it is nothing but Ghana first, and I still stand by that,” the IGP said. He explained that this was a sure way of maintaining peace and security during and after the December polls.”

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But Bani said the IGP’s statement was taken out of context. And he, therefore, decided took

“I would like to emphasise 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 during this year’s election,” he said.

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He was speaking to a joint high-level delegation from the United Nations, the African Union and the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) in Accra on Wednesday.

Meanwhile, the special representative of the United Nations secretary general for West Africa and the Sahel (UNOWA), Dr Mohammed Ibn Chambas, has said the UN would not accept any attempts to ban social media in Ghana during elections.