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Ghana Parliament Speaker charge ECOWAS on Mobile Roaming

The Speaker of Ghana Parliament, Rt. Hon. Alban Kingsford Sumana Bagbin, has called on the Community Parliament to address concerns regarding mobile roaming services in the sub-region so as to achieve achieve regional development through the use of Information and Communication Telecommunication tools. He note that the sub-region can only achieve regional development by ensuring that the Regulation on Roaming on Public Mobile Communications Networks in the ECOWAS Space, which was adopted by the Council of Ministers on 16th December 2017 is implemented. Furthermore, the Honouable Speaker of Ghana Parliament strongly observed that most of the ECOWAS nationals who travel to other countries in the sub region have to pay higher premiums on mobile usage, while others have to change their sim cards to have access to the network available in their new destination. He made these observations, today, Tuesday, July 27, 2021 during the opening session of the de-localised meeting of the Joint Committee on Political Affairs, Peace, Security and African Peer Review Mechanism (APRM), Legal Affairs and Human Rights and Telecommunications and Information Technology of the ECOWAS Parliament, holding at Winneba, Ghana, from 27 – 30 July, 2021. Speaking further, Hon. Bagbin said: “According to the World Bank report 2018, there are over 320 million mobile subscribers in the Sub-region. However, the uptake of mobile data in the sub-region remains a serious challenge. It is a fact that most of the ECOWAS nationals who travel to other countries in the sub-region have to pay higher premiums on mobile usage, while others have to change their sim cards to have access to the network available in their new destination”. “We can only achieve regional development by ensuring that the Regulation on Roaming on Public Mobile Communications Networks in the ECOWAS Space, which was adopted by the Council of Ministers on 16th December 2017 is implemented. This regulation is intended to reduce charges paid by ECOWAS citizens for communication services while roaming within the community”. On the theme for the which is the role of “Telecommunications and Information Technology (TIT) in Achieving Regional Development, Peace and Security and Human Rights’’, he noted that “it reflects the growing recognition of the importance of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) in dealing with the myriad of problems we face in our Sub-region”, adding that “in recent times, ICT services have become an indispensable tool in the development of every facet of our society, whether in the Health, Education, Agriculture, or Trade and Industry sectors”. He continued: “Indeed, telecommunication plays an increasingly vital role in enabling the participation and development of people in communities and nations disadvantaged by geography, whether in rural areas of developing nations or in the global society and economy”. “As you may all be aware, the Sub-region is confronted with various challenges such as drug trafficking, child trafficking, proliferation of and trafficking in small arms, organised crime, money laundering and terrorism. Cybercrime and the insecurity in the maritime space in the Gulf of Guinea, are issues that require immediate attention”. “For this reason, countries in the sub-region through data collection and data sharing are strengthening their collaboration and existing co-operation with International Agencies such as (INTERPOL) and the West Africa Police Chiefs Committee (WAPCCO), in order to combat cross border crimes and terrorism”. While stating that the violation of electoral processes in the conduct of elections has also been a major source of conflict leading to violence and tensions in some countries in the sub-region, he regretted that “it is sad to note that these tensions are occasioned by challenges related to non-consensual constitutional reviews, non-compliance with presidential term limits among others”. According to the Rt. Honourable, “the refusal to accept election results by sections of the society and the abuse of social media to create tensions and divisions are matters of grave concern” and “these undoubtedly threaten the progress made in achieving participatory democracy and therefore calls for the strengthening of democratic principles and the institution of agreeable measures to improve the election process and ensure a transparent, free, fair and peaceful elections. There is also the need to adopt mechanisms/frameworks for promoting political dialogue and peace building in such countries”.

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