CID, National Security Bosses Incompetent, Confused – Security Expert

A security analyst and Executive Director for the Jatikay Centre for Human Security and Peace building, Adib Saani has described head of the Criminal Investigations Department of the Ghana Police Service Maame Tiwaa Addo Danquah as an incompetent and confused security officer who knows little about her work.

In an exclusive interview with ABC News Ghana on a possible terrorist attack on Ghana, Mr. Saani stated that the recent security mishap which can likely gravitate to bigger problems like terrorism, is highly due to the ineffectiveness of persons holding high security positions in the country.

“The National security minister has obviously shown some level of incompetence, he seems to not know what is happening, I have reservations about the BNI, thankfully, the BNI boss has been removed but we still have an incompetent and a confused CID boss, who also doesn’t know what she’s up to, yet she’s still at post. If we are not able to overhaul completely and re-engineer the security of Ghana we might just be threading on a very dangerous path” he told ABC News Ghana.

According to Adib Saani, his disappointment in the security agency stems from the fact that, there is a whole Ministry set aside for National security but we still have such poor security standards in the country.

“I’m very disappointed that despite the putting together of the National security ministry in line with the security and intelligent agencies, act 526, we still have these security challenges in the country. It is quite unfortunate” he lamented.

Security threat on Ghana
There has been recent reports by the African Center for Intelligence studies which says a Burkina Faso based Jihadist group may be targeting Ghanaians, specifically, Christians in the Northern part of the country.

On the back of this report, the National Association of Christian and Charismatic Churches in Ghana have said, in order to protect their members from possible terrorist attacks, they will set up a security team in their churches, whose main responsibility will be to search the bags and cars of everyone who comes to the church.

Mr. Saani, speaking on this development, noted that the move is in the right direction since the world has become more dangerous.

“I can understand the inconvenience it will cause because people are coming in the numbers so you can imagine how long it will take to search each and everyone of them but its necessary because the world has changed, it has become too dangerous so there’s the need for us to put those mechanisms in place” he explained.

It’s quite unfortunate, it is a manifestation of how reactive rather than being proactive the security details we have in Ghana. Not very long ago we had an issue of a gentleman in the church with the president of Ghana with arms, that would have been enough for us to change our security ways at the various churches and mosques.

The Executive Director for Jatikay Centre for Human Security and Peace building however advised Ghanaians to become more proactive in their ways in order to ensure their security.

“Another particularly disturbing thing about security in Ghana is how reactive we are. We wait until armed robbers attack police stations, kill officers, before we start thinking of fixing CCTV cameras at the police station. We wait until armed robbers attack a police officer at lapaz, kill him, before we start thinking of giving police officers on traffic duties side arms. Why do we always have to wait for the wrong things to be do something? he bemoaned in the interview with ABC News Ghana .

Will Ghana be able to handle terrorist attack?

Mr. Saani strongly argues that the security apparatus we have in Ghana is no where close to being able to offer state security in the event of a terrorist attack.

“I strongly doubt that the security systems we have now will be able to offer any protection should there be any terrorist attack launched. Because a lot of criminals are able to operate under the radar in Ghana, there is a lot of transnational crimes happening, there is a lot of arms trafficking happening, now we have issues with kidnappings and our security is just proving to be so confused and not knowing what to do. Obviously, it’s an indication of how incompetent we are in managing the state of Ghana and I pray to God we don’t fall under the range of these terrorists, if not, that will be very dangerous for us” he said.

He likened the recent security issues in the country to the broken window theory – a criminological theory which states that visible signs of crime, anti-social behavior, and civil disorder create an urban environment that encourages further crime and disorder, including serious crimes.

Expressing worry over recent kidnappings and increase in robbery attacks in the country, Mr. Saani said, “if nothing is done about it, it might graduate into something we might find extremely difficult to comprehend and deal with”.

“If we have a robust security regime in Ghana which is able to comprehensively and holistically and progressively investigate criminal cases before the police, it will send correct signals to the criminals that we are not a banana republic, If you do the wrong thing, you’ll be caught and if they are planning an attack against Ghana, it’ll be thwarted” he recommended.

--- www.ABCNewsgh.com