As part of the ongoing ‘Operation Calm Life’, the government has also said there will be increased surveillance of financial institutions, including banks, forex bureaus and other microfinance companies.

[contextly_sidebar id=”6yH5Wn4pxbYFoObddG9sbBux5ZHlIAq6″]Speaking after Vice President Mahamadu Bawumia called an emergency meeting with top security officials on Thursday, the Information Minister, Mustapha Hamid, said the CCTV cameras will be linked to a national operation command centre.

In the increasing spate of robberies, financial institutions have emerged as consistent targets for robbers.

In the Spintex road area alone, about 20 forex bureaux have been robbed in just 2018.

A Lebanese man was also robbed and killed after he after he had just withdrawn GHc 200,000 from the bank in the Tema Industrial Area.

All these are in addition to the attacks on mobile money vending spots in some major cities which have left a number of fatalities.

Outlining the measures to better protect financial institutions and their patrons, Mr. Hamid said “there will be enhanced surveillance on financial institutions, forex bureaus and money vending points across our cities.”

“Government also directs that all financial institutions take steps to install CCTV camera on their premises. The government will roll out a programme to link all these CCTV cameras to a national operation command centre,” the Information Minister added.

Other moves from government

In response to the recent robbery and murder cases, the government has said that:

• There will be heavy military and police presence in major cities across the country starting from today [Thursday, March, 1].
• There will be surgical operations in certain areas of the countries based on intelligence to flush out criminals and suspected criminals.
• That the Ministry of Energy has been directed to accelerate the pace of its cities and communities lighting programme in order to light up our cities and communities in especially crime-prone areas.
• The security personnel will crack down on citizens using mounted sirens on vehicles illegally.

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

The post Gov’t orders financial institutions to install CCTV cameras appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.

Mr. Emmanuel Sekyere Asiedu said the country is better served if the cameras, recorders and ancillary equipment were manufactured in Ghana rather than being imported wholesale.

[contextly_sidebar id=”X1SzRoFKnkg9xWduGHnGjc4PLuB7Dik0″]He was reacting to recent media publications quoting Vice-President Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia as saying that “Negotiations have just been completed for the rollout of Phase 2 of the Alpha Project which will involve the deployment of 8,700 CCTV cameras in all 216 districts with three command centres in Accra, Kumasi and Tamale.”

The Vice-President was speaking at the graduation of new Police Cadets in Accra.

Commenting on the revelation, Mr. Asiedu, who also represents US security giant, Aventura Technologies in Africa, said there are better gains to be made by the country if the surveillance equipment were manufactured locally.

“Government’s own determination to create jobs for the tech-savvy Ghanaian youth imposes an obligation on them to apply innovative thinking to its laudable initiatives,” he said.

He told journalists companies such as Aventura are more than willing to set up plants in Ghana and produce their cutting-edge pieces of technology not only to provide for local solutions, but also for the sub-region and the continent at large.

“The opportunities are enormous in terms of technology transfer, tailor-made solutions, tax revenues in the long run and of course jobs,” he said.

Mr. Asiedu further stated that, “we live in a very different world and today we are faced with complex criminal activities and security threats. It is no longer about simply hanging cameras on a pole or a building and using them post mortem. Our country needs to have cutting edge technology that has been embraced worldwide. Ghana needs to invest in a scalable security platforms that we can leverage going forward. Our solutions need to support state-of-the-art artificial intelligence, video analytics, face recognition, number plate recognition and ability to integrate with command-and-control. Investments in lower cost Chinese solutions is not where we should be investing our future.”

He believes that deploying cameras in the districts is a great initiative for the fight against crimes which must be supported but approached prudently.

“That is the reason I am appealing the Vice-President to let us explore mechanisms which serve our purposes in the long-term,” he added.

He said senior management of Aventura has been visiting Ghana and were awed by the potential buoyed by a stable political and economic environment with an educated workforce.

“With very little effort therefore, we can quickly set up in Ghana and deliver in record time what the government wants – 8,700 CCTV cameras in all districts – and more, at competitive prices inclusive of the advanced technologies being implemented worldwide,” he stressed.

He said from a national security perspective, locally manufactured equipment eliminates the cyber security concerns that come with many of the foreign-made products, which have resulted in catastrophic events as witnessed in the global media.
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By: citifmonline.com/Ghana

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