Cybercrime in Ghana and the Reaction of the Law

Abstract

Since the advent of the internet, the world has become a global community. This is because through the worldwide web links information is being passed on and received almost instantaneously or in real time. People from different locations are able to communicate with one another by exploring social media platforms to advance their course. However, the increasingly use of the internet has fueled the emergence of cybercrime in Ghana and concerns have been raised by people in the position of trust about whether our current laws are robust to deal with the menace. The main thrust of the study was therefore to examine how the law enforcement agencies, especially the police and the judiciary are reacting to the cybercrime peril in the country. A total of nine (9) respondents took part in the study. Structured interview guide was employed as data collection instrument. In the data analysis, each of the in-depth interviews was transcribed as soon as the information is gathered and developed them into codes. The study revealed that the Ghana Police Service efforts to thwart the menace are being limited by factors such as computer crime investigators, ultramodern equipment, and cooperation from the Internet Service Providers to adduce electronic evidence.  In addition, the Electronic Transaction Act of 2008, (Act 772) needs to be reviewed to accommodate the new challenges that have emerged in the cyber ecosystem. It was concluded from the discussions that a progressive capacity building programmes should be organized for law enforcement agencies to enable them acquire ICT skills to deal with cyber laws.

Keywords: cybercrime, reaction, law.

DOI: 10.7176/JLPG/84-04

Publication date: April 30^th 2019