There have been recent reports of terrorist attacks and other security concerns in countries such as Mali, Nigeria and Cote d’Ivoire.

[contextly_sidebar id=”FU69f8RaHGGFuUT7Ub884TePlZfFeH5l”]Analysts have called for close collaboration between governments in the continent to ensure the threats are adequately dealt with.

Ghana’s Minister of State in Charge of National Security, Bryan Acheampong, while speaking at the opening ceremony of a program dubbed Exchange of Good Practices on Legislations of Security Related Committees in the National Assembly of Nigeria and Parliament of Ghana at the Kofi Annan International Peacekeeping Centre in Accra, said the cordial relationship between the two countries must lead to stronger collaboration to help deal with security threats that confront both countries.

“The security environment in Africa is changing rapidly and policymakers and legislators need to develop the right skills and competencies to be able to formulate the right policies to support the security agencies to overcome the challenges,” he said.

“The trans-national and cross-border nature of these security threats will require that policymakers and legislators exchange best practices and learn lessons from collaborative policy options and actions. There is no better way than to join hands with Nigeria to affirm the longstanding relationship between the people and governments of both countries,” he added.

Although Ghana is relatively more secure than Nigeria, it believes a collaboration with Nigeria can help it deal with emerging security threats in the country.

Meanwhile, President Nana Akufo-Addo has pledged increased vigilance especially in the country’s capital Accra, to prevent possible terrorist threats.

“I think that Ghana is stable, Ghana is secure, and I’m going to do everything I can to make sure that image, that reality of Ghana continues,” Akufo-Addo said, during an interaction with journalists at the Flagstaff House to mark his first year in office.

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By: Jonas Nyabor/citifmonline.com/Ghana

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Issues concerning the President’s abode has come up following National Security’s moves to evict some traders and individuals who live and work just opposite the President’s private Nima residence.

[contextly_sidebar id=”PnM1kORQh3AswXdrXal2Xv1upaAEiXsP”]For example, the Institute for Democratic Governance (IDEG), questioned why the President has not moved into the Flagstaff House only to be inconveniencing poor and vulnerable persons in the name of national security.

Responding to these concerns on Eyewitness News, Mr. Acheampong stressed that the President lived in both the Flagstaff House and his Nima residence, when the need arises.

“I have told you since we started this interview that the President lives and works in the Flagstaff House. That is not the only place that the President sleeps or stays. When the President goes to Kumasi, he has a place to stay. When he is in Accra, apart from the Flagstaff House, there is Peduase which is in the Eastern Region but close to Accra he works from and sleeps there.”

The Minister, however stated that the fact the President lived at Flagstaff House did not mean his private residence did not require National Security protocols.

“The fact is that, whether President Akufo-Addo lives at the Nima residence or lives at the Flagstaff House, that is his private residence. He so often visits the place to have his private business and private family engagements in this house… We know that he goes there a minimum of two or three times a week. It is the responsibility of the state to declare the area a security zone and protect it 24/7,” the Minister explained.

Beyond the President’s safety, Mr. Acheampong reminded that “his close family are high-value targets that we must protect and some of them live in that [Nima] residence.”

On Friday, March 9, National Security gave the residents and traders up to Thursday [March 15] to pack out of the area.

The affected persons were said to be receiving compensation of GHc 3,000 to GHc 10,000, and though some of the affected persons have begun moving, others who spoke to Citi News complained the compensation amounts were not enough for them to move.

Traders will still go Thursday

Mr. Acheampong said the government will continue to engage the traders, but was adamant that they will be cleared on Thursday regardless of the outcome.

“Those who are dissatisfied, we will engage them and see and reach an agreement with them. Definitely, they have to go. That one is not in question. The issue, the contention is the settlement we must give them.”

“A few of them are saying they want a top up. Those are discussions we can have, and we are going to begin those discussions today [Tuesday]. But I am saying that in the unlikely event that we are unable to reach an agreement before the 15^th, their vacating the place on the 15^th is not subject to negotiations. We can continue the negotiations afterwards.”

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By: Delali Adogla-Bessa/citifmonline.com/Ghana

The post Nana Addo stays at both Flagstaff House and Nima – Bryan Acheampong appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.

According to him, despite the significant spike in robbery attacks across the country in the first two months of the year, the government had put measures in place to ensure that the menace is curbed and that a drop in robbery-related incidents is recorded from March.

[contextly_sidebar id=”aA0eqOAWZItAj8sQ61sU6b6OSDoz2w7x”]“Going forward from March to the end of the year, at least we would experience a sharp drop, in armed robbery. We would not be experiencing these incidents. I am just trying to explain that the government has control. Currently, the Police Service has control.We are going to put in enough resources to sustain it, which will fit nicely into our general security plans for the year to drop the crime rate from 200,000 to under 150,000, so we have control of the situation,” he said.

He revealed that over the last four years there had been a steady rise in the number of reported armed robbery cases, suggesting that the issue wasn’t limited to the current administration.

Speaking on Citi FM’s news and current affairs programme, The Big Issue, Bryan Acheampong said the situation is worrying and has gotten the attention of government.

Bryan Acheampong added that measures announced by the government to address the robbery situation are yielding positive results.

‘Wave of robbery’

There appears to be a heightened wave of robbery attacks in the country with this week being some of the worst cases reported in weeks.

A number of incidents have involved brazen attacks by the robbers on individuals organisations in broad daylight.

A Lebanese was shot and killed at Tema Industrial Area this week with the assailants making away with GHS 200,000 he had withdrawn from a bank minutes earlier.

Recent arrests

The Inspector General of Police (IGP), David Asante Apeatu, announced earlier this week that the police arrested a group of suspected robbers believed to be behind attacks on about 20 forex bureaux in the Spintex road area in just 2018.

The attacks on these Forex Bureaux were growing number of robberies and high-profile criminal activity in the region.

Mobile money transfer points have also been targeted by robbers in recent times.

Police shake-up

These incidents have prompted members of the public and the Minority to call for some of the heads of the security agencies, including the Inspector General of Police, David Asante-Apeatu, to be sacked.

The IGP has responded with a major reshuffle in the Service, with several officers given new assignments.

Dr. George Akuffo Dampare, Director General of Police Operations, has been reassigned to head the Research and Planning Department.

He is to be replaced immediately by the Eastern Regional Police Commander, DCOP Simon Afeku.

Nine others have also been reassigned to take up various positions across the country.

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By: Farida Yusif/citifmonline.com

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