Two citizens, Maximus Amertogoh and Sara Asafu-Adjaye, have sued Government over the signing of the controversial Kelni GVG deal which will see the real-time traffic monitoring of mobile phone communication.
They are praying the court stop the Minister of Communication, the National Communication Authority, Ghana Revenue Authority, Attorney General, Ghana Chamber of Telecommunications and the telecommunications networks from implementing the deal which involves traffic monitoring.
The two Ghanaians are also praying the court to grant them, “an order of interlocutory injunction restraining the respondents, whether by themselves, their servants, workmen, hirelings, agents, privies or any persons claiming under or through them, whosoever described from implementing and operationalising the Common Platform until the final determination of this suit.â€
The plaintiffs further argue that the “intended implementation of the Common Platform constitutes a real threat to the enjoyment of their fundamental human rights to privacy and for which reason on 8 June 2018, applicants commence an action against the respondents for the reliefs endorsed therein.â€
Government’s $89 million Kelni GVG deal for the design, development and implementation of a common platform for traffic monitoring, revenue assurance and mobile money monitoring has come under a lot of criticism, especially from policy think tank, Imani Africa.
The issues of breaching the privacy of Ghanaians, if the deal is implemented, have also come to the fore.
Meanwhile, Communications minister, Ursula Owusu-Ekuful, has said she will not resign over the controversial Kelni GVG deal despite increasing pressure.
The Kelni GVG deal which was signed in December 2017 to deal with suspected revenue losses and simbox fraud in the telcos will see the government dole out a monthly payment of $1.5 million to the Haitian firm over a five-year period, beginning 30-days after execution of the contract.
The terms of the deal has raised numerous eyebrows with some groups including IMANI Africa calling it a needless and careless duplication of jobs which will cause a strain on Ghana's scarce resources.