By Taonga Sabola in Accra, Ghana:
Ghanaian firm Hashcom, which is set to supply an Integrated System to Track Misinformation and Disinformation Trends to the Malawi Communications Regulatory Authority (Macra), has insisted that the system will not allow the regulator to monitor private conversations on Facebook or WhatsApp.
Concerns had been raised in recent weeks that the system could lead to an invasion of privacy by monitoring citizens’ private messages on these platforms.
During a due diligence exercise in Accra, Ghana, on Wednesday, Hashcom’s Chief Executive Officer, Baba Halidu Musa, assured the Malawian delegation that the system was not designed to track private conversations.
The delegation included officials from Macra, the Media Committee of Parliament, the ICT Association of Malawi (Ictam), civil society and the media.
Musa explained that the system would only monitor publicly available news and verify its accuracy using factual information.
When asked by Chairperson of the Media Committee of Parliament, Susan Dossi, whether the system could be used to manipulate elections, Musa dismissed the idea.
“It is not true. That cannot happen,” he said.
Musa also refuted claims from Malawi that his company, part of the Bahamas Group, was a briefcase firm with no solid track record.
He said Hashcom had previously worked with the National Communications Agency (NCA) in Ghana and other institutions internationally.
After the visit, Dossi confirmed that the trip had clarified misunderstandings about Hashcom.
“We learned from the NCA that they have worked with Hashcom for years and we saw for ourselves that the company is not a briefcase operation, as had been speculated in Malawi,” Dossi said.
A representative from Ictam, Brian Longwe, also said that the visit helped establish that Hashcom is a legitimate company.
Macra Director General, Daud Suleman, said the due diligence process, a standard procedure to verify details before completing a procurement process, involved other stakeholders due to the public interest surrounding the system’s acquisition.
Macra is set to pay $1.5 million (approximately K2.6 billion) for the trend-monitoring system, which is expected to help combat the spread of misinformation and disinformation in Malawi.
Last week, Centre for Human Rights and Rehabilitation and Youth and Society called on President Lazarus Chakwera to halt the procurement of the system.
The organisations argued that “no responsible agency should be making such costly and controversial procurements while the country’s economy is under severe strain.”
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