National Security being run on non-partisan basis

Accra, Dec. 13, GNA - National Security Minister, Mr Francis Poku said on Wednesday that the Ministry of National Security was approaching the issue of national security on a non-partisan basis and was, therefore, committed to taking on board pieces of advice from all including political parties in order to secure the nation.

"We are all advocating stability and we fully subscribe to the rule of law and good governance," he told Parliament in reaction to some comments made on the floor of the House after moving a motion for the approval of 366 billion cedis for the Ministry.

He said for the first time he was to serve on the Narcotics Control Board in his capacity as National Security Minister to make security inputs into efforts to deal with drug trafficking.

Mr Poku said other countries had made overtures to learn from the experiences of Ghana on issues of stability and democratic governance. This, according to him, was as a result of the work of the National Security.

Mr Poku called for more resources and said there were challenges ahead for the Ministry in 2007, because Ghana needed to put in security checks to welcome dignitaries to the 50th anniversary celebrations and other international conferences to be hosted by the country. Some MPs expressed worries over the instability in the country created by the recent cocaine scandal and increase in armed robbery cases and said the money allocated to the Ministry was inadequate and called for more resources.

They also touched on the need to enhance security around MPs and other important personalities such as the Justice Minister and Chief Justice especially in the wake of the many cocaine cases before the courts.

Mr Enoch Mensah, the Deputy Minority Chief Whip, expressed worry over the operations of people he termed reckless security operatives, who he said rushed to follow false leads and ended up harassing innocent people without doing proper and thorough analysis of information received.

Dr Benjamin Kunbuor, NDC-Lawra-Nandom, touched on the need to strengthen security at the regional and district levels by educating those at local governance to desists from meddling in various conflicts including those on chieftaincy.

The House also approved 2.7 trillion cedis for the Ministry of Transportation for the 2007 fiscal year.

Mr Kwame Osei-Prempeh, Deputy Attorney-General, contributing to the debate on the motion for approval, expressed worry over the kind of contract the Transportation Ministry signed with contractors. He said the quality of tarred road was nothing to write home about and charged the Ministry to ensure that contractors gave a period to guarantee the quality of roadwork done.

He said contractors, who under performed, should be asked to refund monies paid them for such poor work.

Mr Joseph Aidoo, NPP-Amenfi-East, asked the Ministry to put up more tollbooths to generate funds to support the Sector. The House also approved 143 billion cedis for the Audit Service with a call for more resources to the Sector to make it more efficient and independent. 13 Dec. 06