Tuesday,
November 5, 2013
Folks, I am more than concerned
at the manner in which President Mahama and his appointees are conducting
government business through cyberspace. At least, everything is confirmed by
the fact that the most preferred medium for reacting to the charges brought
against the President by Alban Bagbin is Facebook, not any other medium.
Why should cyberspace be the
favoured medium? Are these government functionaries so unpatriotic and stupidly
uninformed about the danger posed to our country’s security by their recourse
to cyberspace, where all manner of people and systems troll for intelligence to
guide their relationship with countries and people(s)?
Let’s not be deceived that using
the online media for conducting government business is anything to be proud of.
Cyberspace is a dangerous environment in which to conduct government business.
Unfortunately, there seems to be so much trust in it that the Mahama-led
government functionaries have no compunction but to turn to it to conduct
government business. Nothing can be more threatening to national security than
this new-fangled recourse to cyberspace.
Of course, president Mahama
himself is credited with being a communication(s) expert, indicating that he
knows the importance of communication networks/systems and dynamics and can use
communication to advantage. He has carved a kind of niche for himself as such.
Under Rawlings, he was a deputy and a substantial Minister of Communication,
and he is touted as a communication(s) expert.
No one doubts that credential. He
is proud of it himself and doesn’t hesitate to prove it at the least prompting,
using all kinds of technology (addressing Parliament by using an I-Pad, and
appearing at the United Nations and the CNN, splashed in everything
technology!)
He is even featured at times
using social networking through Facebook and other online media to project
himself as media-savvy and adept at harnessing the benefits of online media for
political purposes. He seems to be unstoppable and can get carried away by such
technological affordances; but he can’t escape the danger inherent in such
media. He may not be aware of it and has to be told straight-away that he has
reached the tipping point!
The last time I read anything
about his recourse to social media was the report portraying him as turning to
Facebook at the break of the day when he began his official schedule. We were
given to know that he did so by using Facebook to inform his followers of “what
was up” for him that day (and beyond).
The first people to react to that
news report described him as lazy and idle, apparently because they didn’t like
the fact that he would turn to Facebook as the first activity for the day
instead of attending to more serious official business that morning.
Of course, one disadvantage of
Facebook (especially for those addicted to it) is that it occupies one’s time
and can be very “distracting” unless used wisely. It takes a lot of moral and
courage and a tinge of security consciousness to keep within bounds.
The point is that it is
unbecoming for a President of a developing country to make Facebook his priority
when expected to use other means to solve national problems. The problem in
this case is the misguided trust and rush for Facebook at the expense of more
intelligent and secure ways of conducting government business. I am being very
candid at this point.
When I read those comments
reacting to President Mahama’s dependence on Facebook, I cringed, wondering at
the same time whether there was something seriously wrong. My fear is that the
crave for Facebook is too strong in government circles. Just do a quick search
to find out how many government officials aren’t registered on Facebook, and
how many of them don’t put messages out there that have some elements of “state
secret” in them.
Clearly, Facebook has wrongfully
become the main channel through which government business is being be done at
different levels. True to my apprehensions, events unfolding in the wake of the
scathing criticisms coming from Alban Bagbin lay everything bare.
In reacting to Bagbin’s
criticisms, a Presidential Staffer (Stan Xoese Dogbe) chose Facebook as the
appropriate medium and dumped his acerbic feelings there, hoping that his
friends there would access his message and spread it to a wider audience.
True to his expectations, it
worked well for him because the online media (Myjoyonline) bit the bait and
sourced his message to circulate. There and then, the news broke out that
Bagbin was “an enemy within the government” and a “liar” to be pooh-poohed for
criticizing President Mahama. Other news portals culled the report and
everything went viral thereafter.
We have since been given other
doses of this “medicine” in political gimmicks—all traceable to cyberspace as
the hub of the communication business. No well-informed government official
will repose that much trust in cyberspace to conduct government business (of
communication between and among functionaries therein). On ignorant imps will
think otherwise.
Pathetically, these government
functionaries have betrayed themselves and the country by using this online
social medium (Facebook—who knows which other online media have been used?) to
fight this wordy warfare.
Every bit of word being
communicated will be accessed and assessed for its intelligence and national
security import by those interested in Ghana’s affairs. Remember the Wikileaks
releases and the cables from the United States Embassy in Accra?
The government officials using
cyberspace to exchange information concerning government business have acted in
abysmal ignorance and arrant stupidity, demonstrating clearly their lack of
wisdom and discipline, let alone responsible behaviour for good citizenship. They
are clearly ignorant of the peril of cyber surveillance, which amounts to
putting governance and Ghana’s security interests at risk. The type, amount,
and quality of information exchanged on Facebook in this Bagbin fracas is
unquantifiable. The damage may not be immediately felt; but it will definitely
materialize one day!
I can stick my neck out to say
that those who know the value of the information that has been put out there by
these government functionaries in the matter concerning Bagbin’s concerns have
already MINED it to Ghana’s disadvantage.
One undeniable fact must be made
clear: Facebook is not an INNOCENT or disinterested medium. It may afford us
the opportunity to interact easily and expediently with each other; but it has
its deeper-level affordances that hinge on access to national security and
intelligence that no level-headed person can discount. Otherwise, why would the
National Security Agency of the United States be keen on monitoring all that
goes on there? And to extend the surveillance to Google, etc.? Surely, there
must be something useful in cyberspace to warrant such manouevres there!!
Against this background, it is
alarming for us to get this news report about the stance of the Deputy Minister
for Fisheries and Aquaculture Development, Aquinas Quansah, who has debunked
Bagbin’s concerns by saying that President Mahama is still accessible because:
• President
Mahama always responds to text messages sent him by his ministers as well as
engages his appointees on various social media platforms and so wonders why
Bagbin is making claims to the contrary. He urged Bagbin to review his approach
at trying to get access to the President.
• President
Mahama might not call you; you might not reach him on phone, but either
whatssApp you can definitely get him to respond to your questions.
• He
is a very interactive President, but we are not exploring those opportunities.
You can just go on his wall [Facebook] he is on all the [social media]
platforms.
(See:
http://www.ghanaweb.com/GhanaHomePage/politics/artikel.php?ID=290928)
Doubtless, this MP is abysmally
ignorant of the wily nature of technology and cyberspace, which is why he has
gone to this pathetic extent of praising President Mahama’s recourse to
technology for conducting government business. Which well-informed politician
(let alone a President of a sovereign country) can’t be smart enough to know
the dangers involved in using open-access media such as Facebook to conduct
government business without a third party’s ability to “listen to” the
exchanges?
Even, a fairly reasonable being
knows that the e-mail system is not SAFE because there is always a third
unknown party hiding behind the scene to intercept the communication!! Only an
abysmal fool will think otherwise and behave as such. Nothing is fool-proof.
Are these Mahama-led
administration officials so daft as not to know that they have no control over
the medium and the traffic of information in cyberspace (especially on
Facebook) or that the owners of the medium have agenda other than what the
users may know of? Who knows what determines the interests of Zuckerberg and
the owners of Facebook?
Who are they working for as they
gather all the unquantifiable data from enthusiastic Facebook users like us?
How much control do we have over the content that we put out there to be
gathered and stored for whatever ulterior motive?
So, in effect, when our
government officials become so foolishly fascinated and enamoured with Facebook
as the Alpha and Omega of their communication business, they create anxious
moments and endanger our national security. These are people to fear because
they have allowed their ignorance or senseless technocentric interests to
endanger us all!! Do they just want to be recognized as tech-savvy or what?
Indeed, I am alarmed that the
President himself and his team of functionaries will repose so much trust in
cyberspace as to make it the most favoured channel of communication instead of
the face-to-face interaction or traditional means of correspondence (memoranda
or letters) to help them keep their secrets (and those of the country) SECRET!!
This fanatical and childish crave
for cyberspace is frightening and must be addressed now before anything
horrible happens. In contemporary times, espionage is done in ways that demand
better approaches to counteract. It is no more physical but “soft” (done online
through media such as Facebook, etc.). How much these government functionaries
expose with their mindless trust in Facebook as the quickest and most readily
available medium of communication can be anybody’s guess.
This issue adds a different complexion
to the concerns that Bagbin’s effusions have brought up. I wish that our
government functionaries will be more circumspect in their conduct of
government business. If they insist on rushing to cyberspace to do government
business, they will create more problems for the country than needed.
Doing government business on the
basis of expedient communication shouldn’t mean exposing government business to
the faceless elements lurking around in cyberspace. Why should anybody make
Ghana’s interests an easy picking in cyberspace? Will President Mahama and his
government functionaries become more enlightened of the dangers entailed by
cyberspace? Another conundrum to ponder!!
I
shall return…
- E-mail: mjbokor@yahoo.com
- Join me on Facebook at: http://www.facebook.com/mjkbokor
No comments:
Post a Comment