As Ghanaians prepare for the 2020 general elections, spill over of some controversial issues from previous years, according to a security analyst, must be addressed by government before the polls.
According to Adam Bonaa, such discrepancies may have a damning consequence on the atmosphere around the December 7 polls and must be properly addressed by President Akufo-Addo.
In an exclusive interview with GhanaWeb, Adam Bonaa proffered his top five security issues hanging around the neck of government and pending resolution.
Below is his take;
1. Ayawaso West Wuogon by-election
In the view of Mr Bonaa, a resolution to the Ayawaso West Wuogon violence would go a long way to clear murky atmosphere of election 2020. The conclusion of the investigations by the Emile Short Commission and the subsequent release of government’s White Paper, according to him is not an appropriate resolution to the issue.
He says government’s White Paper is bogus and the rejection of some the findings possess a major threat to the country’s security ahead of the election 2020.
“…the White Paper is bogus. Government should shred it, go back to the finding recommendations and see that those who are culpable…get punished to serve as a deterrent for those who are arming themselves and would want to go to the polls and make us all unstable…”
2. National Security
The security expert continued to describe the current composition of the National Security service as “an albatross hanging on our neck.” He says a possible dissolution of the National Security would go a long way in curbing some controversies in the build up to election 2020.
“…The government should look at National Security, maybe it should be scrapped, restructured and structures put in place to have people who probably would protect the ordinary Ghanaian…we can’t live in a democracy where my rights can be curtailed by anybody without going to court. So National Security should be looked at…”
3. Illiteracy on security issues
Adam Bonaa continued that the ignorance and illiteracy of the majority of Ghanaians in security issues is a major cause for worry as the nation heads to the polls on December 7.
In an attempt to provide an explanation to his point he said, government does very little in alerting Ghanaians on security threats in the country and abroad.
“…When people are ill-educated when it comes to security matters that itself is a serious national security challenge because then as we are here have we received any alert about the confrontation between Iran and U.S, the spillover…these are things the Europeans would do but we haven’t done that…”
4. Highway robberies
He also highlighted highway robberies as a major cause of worry in the build-up to the December polls.
“…Highway robberies have become a norm…Now you sit in a vehicle going to Tamale and they block you, they beat everybody and take your money…Thank you to the Bank of Ghana, now we’re printing bigger monies…”
5. A National Security policy
Adam Bonaa’s final security issue which he has called on government to address before election 2020 bothers on the country’s need for a National Security policy.
A National Security policy, according to him, will provide an official illustration of how government intends to provide for the security agencies and in turn, the citizens.
“…We need a national security policy, we don’t have it…currently the security structure is flat and once it’s flat it becomes difficult to fight crime. They should take the crime-fighting to the criminals instead of the criminals facing the crime fighters and killing them as we saw last year…”
