The Ghana Publishing Company Limited (GPCL) has warned individuals involved in producing fake versions of Ghana’s laws and manipulating gazetted documents that they risk arrest and prosecution.
Speaking at a press conference, Managing Director of GPCL, Nana Kwasi Boatey Esq., cautioned that producing fake versions of Ghana’s laws is illegal and warned that the company is determined to identify offenders.
“A lot of people have taken the opportunity of a lack of presence everywhere to create fake versions of the Acts of Ghana, which is illegal, and if we get you, we’ll catch you,” Nana Kwasi Boatey Esq. said.
Nana Kwasi Boatey Esq. also announced the introduction of an online e-bookshop designed to make the company’s publications more accessible to the public.
“Our core mandate is also the sale of printing and sale of the laws of Ghana, other educational texts, and we had consistent calls that if we’re able to put that service also online, it will benefit a lot of people,” he said.
The e-bookshop allows customers to order physical copies of the Constitution, Acts of Parliament, educational texts and other publications sold by the company. Customers can place orders online and have the publications delivered through courier services, reducing the cost and inconvenience of travelling to the company’s offices.
Meanwhile, Corporate Affairs representative of GPCL, Samuel Lantam Papanko, raised concerns about individuals who manipulate old gazettes to produce fraudulent documents for unsuspecting members of the public.
“There are people who have an old Gazette and they’ll go and collect money from people and tell them that they want to do a Gazette. They’ll take some of the pages out and put their own things inside and give it out to people as Gazette, and that causes the arrest and prosecution of some people with regards to that,” Samuel Lantam Papanko said.
To address the problem, GPCL has introduced an online gazette verification platform that enables users to check the authenticity of gazetted documents without visiting the company’s offices.
During a demonstration at the press conference, Samuel Lantam Papanko showed how the system works, allowing users to verify documents more conveniently.
The platform also provides access to daily editions of the Ghana Gazette, enabling users to check what has officially been published and when.
Nana Kwasi Boatey Esq. said the verification service would make it easier for members of the public to establish the authenticity of gazetted documents.
“So now when you get a gazette, you can go online and verify whether it’s authentic, again, without coming here,” he said.
He added that making gazettes available online could help prevent disputes over publication dates.
“If it is online, it’s online. You can’t go and remove it,” Nana Kwasi Boatey Esq. said.
GPCL says the digital initiatives form part of efforts to improve access to authentic official publications and strengthen confidence in Ghana’s public records.