The National Security Council Secretariat has engaged stakeholders in three regions to identify emerging security threats and gather recommendations for the review of Ghana’s National Security Strategy (NSS).
The consultations, held in Goaso in the Ahafo Region, Techiman in the Bono East Region and Sunyani in the Bono Region respectively, sought to obtain regional perspectives to inform a revised strategy that responds to emerging threats, local vulnerabilities and appropriate interventions.
Participants included representatives of security agencies, heads of departments and agencies, traditional authorities, civil society organisations, clergy, transport operators and students from second-cycle institutions.
At Goaso, the Director of Legal at the National Security Secretariat, George Loh, said the review was expected to produce a forward-looking strategy to guide the country’s security architecture and responses from 2026 to 2030.
He said the exercise would assess the existing strategy, identify gaps and determine whether current approaches to addressing security threats required adjustments.
“We are here to take your side of the story,” he said, urging participants to identify threats peculiar to their regions and propose practical measures to address them.
In Techiman, Mr Loh said the revised strategy would place greater emphasis on anticipating threats and developing preventive measures rather than waiting for security incidents to occur.
He said the approach would broaden the concept of national security beyond conventional police and military interventions to include issues affecting human well-being.
Regional concerns
In Sunyani, the Bono Regional Minister, Joseph Addae Akwaboa, said the changing nature of security threats made it necessary to move beyond the approaches adopted in 2020.
He identified violent extremism and terrorism in the Sahel, small arms trafficking, transnational crime and irregular migration as emerging concerns.
He also cited cybercrime, mobile money fraud, online scams, misinformation on social media, climate change, pressure on land and water resources, chieftaincy disputes and drug abuse among young people.
Mr Akwaboa said national security should encompass the safety of farmers, traders, students and business owners, alongside food security, employment, healthcare, environmental protection and good governance.
Although he described the Bono Region as peaceful, he identified highway safety, land and chieftaincy disputes, drug abuse and fraud targeting market women and rural communities as specific concerns.
Preventive measures
Mr Akwaboa called for stronger early-warning systems and community-level coordination involving traditional authorities, assembly members, youth and women’s groups to identify and address threats before they escalated.
He also advocated increased employment opportunities for young people, stronger institutional capacity to tackle cybercrime and modern fraud, and improved community policing.
He urged stakeholders to submit practical recommendations and called for traditional authorities to be recognised as important partners in peacebuilding.
