The deputy Interior minister, Mr James Agalga has attributed the relative peace and improvement in the overall security situation in the northern region to the President John Dramani Mahama led administration’s commitment to ensuring peace in the country.
The improvement is the direct result of the investment president Mahama has made in all the security agencies, Mr Agalga said in Tamale on Friday.
He commended the regional coordinating council and the regional security council for restoring calm to Bimbilla, Kpatiga, Bunkpurugu and Gushiegu where curfews are still in force as a result of Chieftaincy disputes.
Explaining why curfew was imposed on those areas, Mr Agalga said, it was necessary to enable security forces enforce discipline, peace and security.
The rationale behind the curfews, he noted, was not to trample on the rights of residents, adding that the ministry will continue to review the curfews if the security situation improved in Bimbilla.
Ghana meeting UN bench mark on police
Before 2012, the numerical strength of the Ghana police was 25,000 far below the UN approved bench mark of one police officer policing 500 citizens.
The deputy interior minister who was speaking at the Government For People forum in Tamale (G4P) on the topic: peace and security, explained that, in the past it was one police officer policing over 1,000 citizens, thus making it extremely difficult for the police service to effectively discharge its mandate.
The current numerical strength of police in the region is 33,000, the deputy minister said. One police officer, he explained, now police close to 700 people.
According to Mr Agalga, between 2012 and 2014, police had 5070 vehicles to enhance their response to crime. The support, he noted, was to make the police more visible than before to deal with criminal activities in society.
War on terror
The deputy interior minister urged citizens to be wary of suspicious characters in society and to report suspicious activities to the security agencies for prompt response.
He reminded Ghanaians about the attacks in Mali, and observed that it takes collective efforts to fight terrorism. This is because the terror activities across the globe need all hands on deck to ensure a peaceful world, Mr Agalga explained.
Election tension
The deputy interior minister also announced that government has set the national election security task-force ahead of the December elections.
The taskforces, he added, has been replicated in all the ten regions of Ghana as part of measures to ensure free and fair elections. Security agencies will intervene when it becomes necessary, the deputy interior minister emphasized.
He also encouraged citizens to support the National Peace Council which has offices in all the regions, urging aggrieved parties in either election or any other issue to resort to dialogue.
Surveillance on Ghana’s borders
Surveillance, Mr Agalga added, has been mounted in 15 porous border posts in the country. The border control unity of the Ghana Immigration Services replaced border guards, he said.
