The Supreme Court has ruled that Vodafone Ghana Limited has breached the privacy of its customers by using Ghana card details to register a number and mobile money account for another customer.
Ghana’s apex court, in a majority decision of 4 – 1, held that Vodafone Ghana Limited breached the data privacy rights of its customer, Elorm Kwami Gorni.
The Law Platform providing more details stated, “The Supreme Court in a majority decision of 4 – 1, Dzamefe dissenting, has held that Vodafone Ghana Limited breached the data privacy rights of their customer, Elorm Kwami Gorni, Appellant in the case, by allowing the registration and the mobile money wallet operation of a number unknown to the Appellant using the Ghana Card details of Elorm Gorni without his consent.
In the well-researched and reasoned majority decision of the Supreme Court through the voice of the Professor of Law, H/L Justice Prof. Mensa-Bonsu, the court made a discussion of the Data Protection Act 2012 (Act 843) by reliance on the two famous Supreme Court cases on privacy rights, MRS ABENA POKUAA ACKAH v. AGRICULTURAL DEVELOPMENT BANK [TLP-SC-2017-58]; RAPHAEL CUBAGEE v. MICHAEL YEBOAH ASARE & 2 ORS [TLP-SC-2018-13] and the persuasive force of the data privacy right case of Justice Noah Adade v. Bolt Ghana Limited & Bolt Holdings OU
The discussion of the Court, which suffered a dissent from Senyo Dzamefe JSC, also relied on scholarly material, including that of Francisca Kusi-Appiah: ‘Consumer Rights and Justice in Ghana: A Legal Compass’, K-App Law, Accra, Ghana 2025, pp 123. 262 and p.419. and James Whisker, Mark Eshwar Lokanan, “Anti-money laundering and counter-terrorist financing threats posed by mobile Money.”, in Journal of Money Laundering Control, https://doi.org/10.1108/JMLC-10-2017-0061.
The Court, in the voice of Kulendi JSC, who offered a concurring opinion to the erudite opinion of Justice Mensa-Bonsu, held that “15. In my considered opinion, the failure of the 1st Respondent to ensure the effective implementation of such basic verification measures at the initial stage of the registration exercise constituted a clear dereliction of the Respondent’s statutory obligations and effectively created the conditions under which the Appellant’s personal data could be misused, ultimately resulting in the unauthorized activation of a mobile money account in the Appellant’s name, which by all standards, amounted to an invasion of his privacy under Article 18 of the Constitution.”
The Law Platform added, “The Court thus granted the 1st and 2nd reliefs of the Plaintiff/Appellant/Appellant and awarded nominal damages of GH¢10,000 despite being alarmed by the possibility of the misuse of the identity details of the Appellant and the existence and risk of money laundering activities through such misuse of data.
Prof Mensa-Bonsu delivered herself on the alarming nature of the possibility of identity misuse as follows: “It should thus be a matter of alarm if someone with access to another’s personal documentation could use it to register his or her own or even a third person’s internet identity without the owner’s consent or authorisation.”
The news comes at a time when Sam Nartey George, the Minister for Communication, Digital Technology and Innovations, has disclosed that the planned SIM registration will be rolled out in the third quarter of 2026.
Speaking in an interview with Channel One TV’s Face to Face on Tuesday, Sam George revealed the exercise will be rolled out between July, August, and September in 2026.
The Communication Minister also urged Ghanaians to fully participate in the upcoming SIM card re-registration exercise.
Sam George, during the interview, stated, “It’s advisable for everybody to ensure that when we roll out the registration process, you take part in it. Bearing in mind that you took part in a system that traumatised people—people queued for days—but now you have a system that will allow you to do this in the comfort of your home. The process will be mandatory for the use of telecom services in the country”.
“I’m confident that in the third quarter of this year, anytime between July, August, and September, we will definitely be in a good position to roll out,” he said.
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