Reverend Dr. Ernest Adu-Gyamfi, Chairman of the Governing Board of the National Peace Council has said the sophisticated nature of modern crime required a well- equipped security service with the capacity to act faster than the perpetrators.
He said three three years ago, nobody imagined that Ivory Coast, Togo, or Benin would suffer from insurgent attacks.
“The thinking of most of us at the time was that it was an issue for the Sahelian countries – Niger, Mali and Burkina Faso”.
This, he stressed the need to enhance trust and confidence between the security agencies and the civilian population to prevent extremisms in Ghana and to improve understanding and tolerance ahead of the 2024 general election.
Rev. Dr. Adu-Gyamfi was speaking at a two-day national dialogue on “Improving civilian – security agency relations,” at Koforidua in the Eastern Region.
The national dialogue was organised by the National Peace Council and the Catholic Relief Services (CRS) with funding from the Netherlands Embassy with the objective of strategically building consensus and trust to improve civilian-security agency relations towards preventing violent extremism in Ghana.
The National Peace Council is an independent statutory national peace institution established by an Act of parliament I’m 2011 (Act 818, 2011) and works closely with the security agencies in the discharge of its mandate, sharing notes and strategies for peace building.
Mrs. Adelaide Anno-Kumi, Chief Director at the Ministry of Interior on behalf of the Minister for Interior said in recent times, the government had introduced some robust legal and policy steps to enhance security of the country, which included the National framework for preventing and countering violent extremism that provided operative directions to security agencies and parastatals playing critical roles in security matters.
It also established the National counter terrorism and fusion centre and launched a national campaign on preventing violent extremism – “See Something, Say Something, ” which is intended to draw the attention of citizens to play their critical role as informants in the dissemination of critical information to the security agencies for processing and taking appropriate action.
She expressed the hope that the dialogue will profess strategic ways of eliminating any perceived mistrust and adding that, “this I believe will go a long way to improve civilian-security agency relations and lead to improved partnership between the two for enhanced security for all of us.”
Mr. Stefan Hulisz, Regional Security Coordinator, Netherlands Embassy emphasized the “See something, Say something ” campaign saying, it was important for people to have trust in their security agencies to provide information for them.
“Information is crucial in fighting extremism because the citizens in communities can provide information about suspicious development, as well as suspicious incidents. Providing information enhances capabilities of security agencies to act more prudently,” he noted.
Mr. Daniel Mumuni, Country Director for the CRS said new wars were not fought on the fields today. The war on terror and violent extremism feeds on communities, ideology and there were no rules of engagement.
“To win this war requires a human security approach. Security that is not centred on the needs and aspirations of civilian populations will not succeed,” he stated.
He said the National Peace Council was a partner to the Catholic Relief Services’ Prevention of Violent Extremism Through Social Accountability (PoVETSA) project.
The project seeks to enhance a trust-building mechanism for Ghanaian national peace building institutions, Civil Society Organisations, security services and civilians.
The national dialogue drew expertise from the Ghana Police Service, Ghana Immigration Service, Ghana Armed Forces, Ghana Prisons Service, and representatives from the Ghana Private Road Transport Union (GPRTU), Civil Society Organisations, Non-Governmental Organisations and schools.
