‘Sacked police personnel pose security threat’
A security analyst, Nana Owusu Sekyere, has indicated that the sacking of police personnel from the Police Service after three months’ training poses a security threat to Ghanaians.
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According to him, it is not only a security issue but also a national issue.
He said it was necessary to also critically examine any lapses that posed a threat to Ghanaians and the country’s territorial integrity.
Mr Sekyere made this known to the Daily Graphic in an interview.
He said the over 200 police personnel who had been sent home for lack of qualification, raised questions of integrity in terms of the recruitment process and the transparency of the exercise in the security training institution.
Insecure society
“How do authorities explain to Ghanaians after training personnel to acquire institutional knowledge for over three months to go home on the basis of incorrect and falsified documentation? How come these were not detected at the initial stages before being trained?” he asked.
Mr Sekyere stated that it was a mistake in recruiting unqualified people and training them, since it would make Ghanaian society insecure.
He appealed to the government to muster the political will and a desire to build a professional, independent and strong security institution.
He noted that security issues should not be politicised, but authorities ought to be circumspect in investigating the issues irrespective of the political affiliation in order to clear all doubts Ghanaians might have about the service, adding that would make Ghanaians trust the systems in the country.
“These are some of the reasons why some Ghanaians do not trust the security service and as a result put the laws in their own hands,” he stressed.
He appealed to police authorities to handle the recruitment exercise in a manner that will make Ghanaians have trust in the police service.
“The fact that we are unable to tell what their next move is puts us in a very insecure position and that's why we must be concerned. Can anyone tell what these over 200 recruits would use their knowledge for?” he asked.
Implications
Expatiating on the implications of the dismissal of the personnel, Mr Sekyere said individuals should not be under any illusion that even though they were not trained to handle weapons it meant Ghanaians were safe.
The mere fact that the personnel have had basic knowledge of the operations of the Police service is as dangerous as having a weapon, adding that the danger was that, knowledge once acquired could be used for anything either good or bad.
He explained it was good the police had their bio data. They must monitor these recruits using measures that do not infringe on their rights and prosecute those who deliberately falsified their documentation.
According to him, “if the exercise of sending them home is to purge the police institution of miscreants and unqualified people and lay a foundation of professionalism then we must be encouraged to do the right thing to strengthen the activities of the police Service.”
All efforts to get the Police Public Relations Department to comment on the issue proved futile.