Osei Bonsu Dickson
Chief Legal Advisor to the National Security Secretariat and Coordinator of the Security Governance Initiative (SGI), Osei Bonsu Dickson, says Ghana has moved from an era of less dedication to a point of progressive funding for Cybersecurity initiatives.
Mr. Dickson made this known while speaking at the third Civil Society Cyber Security workshop organized by the Africa Cybersecurity and Digital Rights Organisation (ACDRO), in Accra on the theme: “Making Our National Cyber Security Policy and Strategy Citizen-Centric”.
The workshop was attended by CSOs from across Ghana to learn about the present draft national cyber security policy document and to contribute to the future ultimate document.
According to Mr. Dickson, financial and human capacity constraints are now a thing of the past as far as the fight against cyber crime in Ghana is concerned.
He observed that sustained funding support has been paving the way for an aggressive cyber-based initiatives.
Mr. Dickson explained that “In the past, most public prosecutors, defence lawyers and even judges lacked the capacity to adequately prosecute cybercrime whilst inefficient processes in validating identification documents contribute to high incidence of identity theft or what I call cyber-galamsey.”
He emphasized that “but with dedicated funding for cyber security in the 2020 budget, we have moved from a period of less dedication to progressive funding and also improved capacity building.”
Coordination
He called for coordination from both public and private sector actors in the quest to build a healthier and resilient cyber space.
According to him, “We must ponder the role of CSOs in cyberspace; we must ask how best CSOs can contribute in coalition building global, regional and national capacity.”
He claimed that “Accra remains the political Mecca of Africa, and so in the sphere of digital rights, cyber law and cyber norms, Ghanaian civil society organizations can offer a directional role in norms development, implementation, and enforcement.”