Ghana’s Parliament has passed a bill restoring the familiar “BNI” branding to the country’s principal domestic intelligence agency — bringing an end to years of public confusion that dogged its short-lived identity as the National Investigations Bureau.
On March 18, 2026, lawmakers approved the Security and Intelligence Agencies Bill, 2025, formally renaming the National Investigations Bureau (NIB) to the Bureau of National Intelligence (BNI) — reversing a 2020 rebrand that many Ghanaians never quite accepted.
The case for the change, as articulated by Interior Minister Mohammed Mubarak Muntaka, was straightforward: the acronym NIB was a constant source of confusion. Sharing the same initials as the National Investment Bank, the intelligence agency found itself perpetually mixed up with a financial institution — in media reports, official correspondence, and everyday conversation alike.
It was a bureaucratic headache with real consequences, and one the government concluded was simply not worth preserving.
The restored name comes with a subtle but important distinction. The agency returns to the BNI banner, but the full name reads Bureau of National Intelligence — not the Bureau of National Investigation it was known as before the 2020 change under the previous administration. It is a slight tweak, but one that reclaims the branding that generations of Ghanaians still instinctively associate with the agency.
The renaming is part of a broader overhaul of Ghana’s national security architecture embedded in the new legislation. The bill also addresses the repositioning of oversight responsibilities — including proposals to abolish the standalone Minister for National Security position and consolidate that authority under the Interior Minister or a designated equivalent.
Tullow Oil Secures Strong Backing For Refinancing Plan As Over 90% Of Noteholders Sign On
Those provisions sparked the sharpest exchanges in Parliament, with Majority and Minority lawmakers clashing over the scope and pace of the security reforms before the bill ultimately passed.
The legislation, first introduced in February 2026, fits a pattern of institutional adjustments pursued by the Mahama administration since returning to office. Critics have characterised the flurry of changes as a politically motivated “renaming spree.”
The government, however, insists the moves are practical — aimed at streamlining roles, eliminating ambiguity, and removing what officials describe as unnecessary impositions embedded in laws passed by the previous administration.
For now, the BNI is back — and Ghanaians no longer have to wonder whether the evening news is reporting on spies or bankers.