SGI team engages various stakeholder agencies to improve maritime security

The Security Governance Initiative (SGI) is a technical multi agency body, set up by the United States government, to improve maritime security, border management and cybercrime in Ghana.

The team made up of members from diverse security agencies, have met with various stakeholders like the Ghana Navy, Customs division of GRA, National Security and Ghana Maritime Authority in a consultation process to identify challenges and deliberate on suggestions to the implementation of a national integrated maritime security.

The Security Governance Initiative team met the Minister for National Security; Albert Kan-Dapaah who pledged his support for the implementation of a national integrated maritime security which he admitted would advance the country’s economy.

“This project which probably may end up with a blue print for us, as to how best we can participate in such a boom in the blue economy is also something that we can take advantage of,” he said.

The Chief Staff Officer of the Ghana Navy, Commodore Issah Yakubu assured the SGI of their support to work with them in order to set up a framework to make the country safe.

“The maritime domain is very critical to the development of this country and security of the domain is very important and the navy plays a major role in ensuring that security,” he said.

The Director General of the Ghana Maritime Authority, Kwame Owusu said the National Integrated Maritime Security strategy, when implemented would aide government to identify agencies who should be responsible for various crisis management.



“We need to be able to put a document together so that the government will be able to know whenever there are crisis or there are problems or security issues we will know who is responsible,” he said.

The Representative of the U.S government, Nicholas Tomb, said the purpose of the SGI’s visits to the stakeholder agencies is to ensure that the interests and concerns of the agencies are included in the integrated maritime security strategy.

“We want to be engaging with the stakeholders throughout the process to ensure that their interests, their concerns are included in the strategy,” he said.