Member of Parliament for Bawku Central, Mahama Ayariga, says he will challenge a court order directed at telecom giant, MTN Ghana, to make available his phone records to the Special Prosecutor, Martin Amidu.
An Accra Circuit Court had ordered the Managing Director of MTN to produce phone records of Mahama Ayariga and an officer of the Ghana Revenue Authority to the Special Prosecutor.
The court gave the order at the request of Amidu.
Mr. Amidu had told the court presided over by Mrs. Ruby Naa Adjeley-Quayson that the office of the Special Prosecutor had already obtained an order to conduct a forensic examination on three mobile phone numbers from the Director General of the Criminal Investigations Department of the Ghana Police Service.
Consequently, the Presiding Judge granted the order and asked MTN to produce the said phone records dated December 1, 2018, to January 6, 2019.
But Ayariga in a statementrreleased on Thursday said he would have gladly produced the records if Amidu had asked directly but said he has decided to contest the order.
Below is Ayariga’s full statement:
I will contest Martin Amidu court order for my MTN call records – Mahama Ayariga
I, Mahama, Ayariga would have gladly personally handed my MTN call records to Mr Martin Amidu, if he had just asked me directly, so he will see that I have never placed a call to Mr Kwasi Gyimah-Asante’s phone. I still do not know who Kwasi Asante-Gyimah is.
I however think that in the interest of developing clarity on the law protecting the privacy of the communication of Ghanaian citizens on mobile telecommunications platforms, and setting proper precedents, the breath of the court order should be subjected to legal scrutiny. I have therefore instructed my lawyers accordingly.
I believe that MTN is properly advised not to hastily yield to this clearly over-broad order in the interest of their customers. MTN must be seen to exhaust all legal challenges.
Hon. Mahama Ayariga
MP, Bawku Central
Ghana | Atinkaoanline.com