Effia MP Isaac Yaw Boamah-Nyarko is calling for tighter national security measures and greater public vigilance following reports that a foreign national allegedly exploited Ghanaian women.
Speaking on Newsfile on JoyNews on Saturday, February 21, Boamah-Nyarko pointed to Ghana’s existing legal framework, stressing that the Cybersecurity Act was designed to deal with exactly this kind of situation.
“I think we passed the Cybersecurity Act to confront some of these issues, and you said the sanctions are very high, punitive enough,” he said.
He acknowledged, however, that Ghanaian authorities face a major hurdle since the suspect is reportedly outside the country.
“Unfortunately, the person is not within our jurisdiction for us to prosecute. But be that as it may, I think the diplomatic channels that have been triggered by the state are very welcome,” he noted.
Boamah-Nyarko described as particularly important the government’s reported decision to summon Ghana’s Ambassador to Russia to address the matter.
“The fact that they have summoned the Ambassador to Russia to come and speak to the issues is very, very important,” he emphasised.
According to the MP, engaging Russian authorities could open other legal possibilities, including extradition or prosecution within Russia.
“Engaging the Russian government — whether their constitution allows for extradition or whatever legal options exist — that is for the Russians to determine. I think that is also a crime in Russia,” he said.
He added that principles of international law could also come into play.
“You know international law; they can decide to prosecute the gentleman even in their jurisdiction for offences that he has committed here in Ghana,” he explained.
Beyond the immediate legal and diplomatic considerations, Boamah-Nyarko argued that the incident should spark a broader discussion about Ghana’s security systems.
“But the broader conversation I am interested in is the security architecture for our country. We invest so much in national security and intelligence gathering, so our agencies should take a cue from this and strengthen internal security,” he said.
He also stressed the need for stronger public education and a culture of reporting suspicious behaviour.
“We should also do a lot of education. Many things go wrong, yet people are often reluctant to report,” he observed.
Boamah-Nyarko suggested that deeper investigations might reveal that warning signs had been missed.
“I believe if we go out there and conduct investigations, people may say, ‘I saw him do this.’ Maybe one or two people might even have confronted him when he was approaching some of these ladies,” he added.