By Sitta Turay 

Deputy Information and Communication Minister, Saidata Sesay, has told newsmen that making Voice Over Internet Protocal (VOIP) calls is illegal in Sierra Leone, and defaulters will face the full force of the law. She made this disclosure at the weekly government press briefing held at the conference hall of the Information and Communication Ministry, Youyi Building in Freetown.

This was in response to a question posed on the effectiveness and significance of the registration of telephone (SIM) cards, when technology allows people to make voice calls through the internet and remain anonymous. Adding to what the Minister said, the Director of Communication, Mr. Bah, emphasized that registration of SIM cards is a constitutional provision for the security of mobile phone users. The ridiculous side of the whole statement is the ban that is being put on VOIP. An observer talking to this press said that the move is contributing to placing Sierra Leone backwards as far as modern technology is concerned. "it is incumbent of the government to encourage new technologies than to ban them. That makes the younger ones go backwards in education. There are lessons students take through VOIP. This is complete nonsense!!" an internet user told our reporter around Lumely.

More ridiculous in the conference room, Mr. Bah used the same forum to announce that the government will launch the National Internet Exchange at the Lagoonda Complex in Freetown. According to him, the establishment of national internet exchange is a global requirement for the fair, speedy and cost effective dissemination of information. Sierra Leone, he continued, is among the list of the first West African countries to establish this ICT exchange. "ECOWAS and the African Union have even made it mandatory on their member states to establish the exchange," he said. He said the Government of Sierra Leone is partnering with the Internet Society in order to achieve this venture but will refuse to make it legal for internet users to use VOIP. That baffled newsmen and therefore bombarded the minister with several questions around that issue.

It is well assumed that the Ministry of Information lacks the requisite personnel that will properly explain to the Ministry what is the Internet Protocol. There have been several confusion as far as that is concerned. The Ministry officials nearly do not know anything about internet and are therefore making laws that will not meet the world of internet. It is understood that some Americans are languishing in the maximum prison of Pademba roads for using the internet to make calls. These Americans and Sierra Leoneans were arrested at the Kimbima Hotel in 2009 because they used the internet to make international calls which are very legal worldwide.