NPP member calls for stringent legislation to check violation of privacy after Dapaah video leak

Alhaji Ali Suraj, a leading member of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), has called for the urgent enactment of legislation to protect the privacy of individuals.

The call comes in the wake of the recent viral video of Mr Albert Kan Dapaah, the National Security Minister.

He said the recent video involving the Minister, presented a perfect opportunity to begin a national discourse on the need to hunt and punish perpetrators who disparage distinguished personalities in the eyes of the public, by putting embarrassing information about them on the social media.

Speaking in an interview with the Ghana News Agency (GNA), he said though Article 18 section 2 protected the privacy of every citizen, people continued to violate the privacy of others with impunity through secret video and audio recordings.

This, he said, required Parliament to either come out with a more punitive legislation or ensure the strict application of existing ones to stop the needless tarnishing of people’s reputations.

“Let us have a very rigorous punishment regime so that people would know that when they record someone and leak it, they could face dire consequences,” he opined.

Alhaji Suraj who contested the NPP primaries in the Asutifi South Constituency last year, said it was unacceptable for people to maliciously release private videos and audios without the consent of those involved.

He observed that amorous relationship was borne out of a consensual, mutual understanding between the two people involved and condemned the social media trending of the video just to bring down the Minister.

He counseled the youth especially ladies not to allow themselves to be used as conduits to blackmail people.

Source: GNA