The Ministry of Communications through the National Cyber Security Centre is organising a three-day retreat for members of the Parliamentary Select Committee on Communications.

The exercise scheduled from 1 June to 3 June 2019 is to build the capacity of legislators of the committee in the area of cybersecurity and to review the draft cybersecurity legislations - Cybersecurity Bill and Interception Bill and the revised National Cybersecurity Policy and Strategy.

The various legislations are aimed at establishing a cybersecurity authority, providing a legal framework to effectively conduct cyber-related activities in the interest of the public and protecting critical national information infrastructures of the country.

The retreat also seeks to review the revised National Cybersecurity Policy & Strategy, the document which provides policy direction on cybersecurity in the country to reflect current cybersecurity and cybercrime trends.

The centre, since inception, has facilitated a number of capacity building and awareness creation activities geared towards obtaining a safer cyber ecosystem in Ghana. Prominent among these activities is the National Cybersecurity Awareness Programme (NCSAP) dubbed ‘A Safer Digital Ghana’ campaign which focuses on awareness creation for four focal areas aimed at tackling the menace of cybercrime and improving Ghana’s cybersecurity readiness.

Ghana has ratified two international conventions namely; the Malabo Convention (African Union Convention on Cyber Security & Personal Data Protection) and the Budapest Convention (Convention on Cybercrime) in recognition of the need for international cooperation to tackle cybercrime and improve on cybersecurity from best practices globally.

The Minister for Communications, Ursula Owusu-Ekuful is expected to make a presentation on the current developments and policy direction on Ghana’s cybersecurity at the retreat which will be attended by 36 participants made up of Members of the Parliamentary Select Committee on Communications, officials from the Ministry of Communications and members of the Legislative Drafting Division of the Office of the Attorney General’s Department.