Severe Penalties Create Business Uncertainty

This provision establishes mandatory minimum sentences of 3-10 years imprisonment and fines of 250-25,000 penalty units for cybercrimes, but operates in conjunction with 36's vague offense definitions including "creating false information." For digital businesses—particularly platforms hosting user-generated content, e-commerce sites, and data analytics companies—this creates severe legal uncertainty about when operations might trigger criminal liability. The mandatory minimums eliminate judicial discretion to account for offense severity or business context, forcing businesses to invest heavily in risk-averse compliance systems or avoid the Ghanaian market entirely. This penalty structure significantly exceeds international norms (most OECD democracies impose 2-5 year maximums), creating competitive disadvantages for Ghanaian digital businesses and deterring foreign investment in Ghana's digital economy.