Security agencies urged to identify emerging threats

Accra, Sept. 3, GNA - Chief of Defense Staff (CDS), Major General Augustine Peter Blay, on Thursday tasked security agencies to identify emerging security threats to the nation for them to be dealt with expeditiously.

For instance, he said, security challenges posed by the oil find, "Sakawa" (internet fraud) and worsening traffic congestions would require effective policy formulation and implementation by security agencies to resolve them.

Major General Blay was speaking at the closing ceremony of the Ghana Security Sector Governance and Management Course-Six at the Ghana Armed Forces Command and Staff College in Accra.

The three-week course under the theme: "Ghana's oil endowment: Identifying and addressing its security and defence dimensions and implications," is to expose personnel of various security organisations to the inherent problems and challenges that the oil industry could have on the people, the environment and the nation as a whole.

The course, which was facilitated by security experts from the Africa Security Dialogue and Research, Ghana Institute of Management and Public Administration and University of Ghana, attracted participants from the security agencies, Ministries of Defence and Interior, Judicial Service, National Disaster Management Organization (NADMO), Narcotics Control Board and members of Parliament.

Major General Blay said rapid technological changes, demographics and the increasing expectations among people made it even more crucial for security experts to take security sector governance and management issues more seriously.

He said no nation could pursue any meaningful development if there was no peace adding: "We are all beneficiaries of the secure environment we enjoy today. We will equally be victims of a chaotic environment if our actions or inactions create one for ourselves" he added. He also urged security agencies to strive for continuous knowledge to be able to tackle rising security challenges such as money laundering and drug trade posed by globalisation.

Ms Philomena Sackar, a participant said proactive steps must be taken to ensure proper demarcation of the country's maritime borders from its neighbours.

She said the Serious Fraud Office (SFO) and the Commission for Human Right and Administrative Justice (CHRAJ) should be empowered to ensure transparency and accountability in the revenue disbursement accruing from the oil industry. She said the National Commission for Civil Education, the media and civil society organisations should also be involve to ensure proper dissemination of information to Ghanaians. 3 Sept. 09