According to him, the minister took the action in order to protect the image of the Togolese president, Faure Gnassingbe, whom he claims is Mr. Kan-Dapaah’s close friend.

[contextly_sidebar id=”ZhW2DuhfcF0BFF9mtnqHerYGH8XDb5QA”]“My suspicion and my later investigations have all proved that the National Security is complicit in this matter. Because the National security is a very close ally to Faure Gnassingbe and also he is a constant host of the Minister for Security in Togo, who always comes to Ghana,” Bernard Mornah said in an interview on Eyewitness News on Monday.

About 19 persons including Mr. Mornah were arrested by the Nima Police on Saturday morning when they gathered as members of the Ghana-Togo Solidarity movement to hold a peaceful march to draw the attention of local and international authorities to the political crisis in Togo.

According to the Police, they had earlier permitted Bernard Mornah and his group to undertake the peace march, however, they informed him later to cancel it due to operational challenges and intelligence that another group was trying to interrupt their activity.

But Mr. Mornah denied the claim, saying that he assured the police the peaceful march required very little police presence.

Bernard Mornah was however granted bail several hours later.

He lamented that the Police manhandled him and treated him in a way that violates his human rights.

He told Umaru Sanda Amadu on Eyewitness News that the National Security Minister was complicit in the “uncouth” conduct of the Police against him.

“The Minister is always the one polluting the president about the happenings in Togo and eventually he had to use his office to push. I asked many people that I am close to in government that how come this could come about and it turned out that my suspicion of the National Security Minister is justified… If his friend is the minister responsible for security in Togo, and his friend is Faure Gnasingbe and we are bringing the issues of Togo so that people get to know the alarming situation, the abductions that are going on, and he does want that to be seen of his friends, what do you expect him to do?,” he quizzed.

“…I am scandalized that Ghana would want to position itself as ‘anti-people’s freedom’ in Togo and that they are for a government that has been dominated by one family for 50 years,” he added.

26 Togolese arrested for illegal protest in Accra

In October 2017, the Police arrested 26 Togolese nationals for attempting to stage an unlawful demonstration over the political situation in their country.

According to the Accra Regional Police Operations Officer, Chief Superintendent Kwasi Ofori, about 300 Togolese had to be dispersed lawfully at the Kawukudi Park because their intended action was in clear breach of Ghana’s public order act.

That was the second time that Togolese in Ghana have tried demonstrating in solidarity with efforts back home by the opposition to have presidential term limits.

Police condemned

Meanwhile, some Civil Society Organizations and individuals have condemned the Police for their recent actions especially against persons who plan to hold non-commercial special events.

Ghanaian innovator and researcher with IMANI Africa, Bright Simmons, challenged the Ghana Police over its suggestion that it must approve all notices of non-commercial events before they can be held.

According to him, that stance is not back by law.

What does the Public Order Act say?

The Public Order Act 1994 (ACT 491), from where the Police draws its authority in the holding of special of events indicates that, in attempt to stop a special events from occurring either because organizers refuse to comply with a request to postpone or relocate events, “police may apply to any judge or a chairman of a Tribunal for an order to prohibit the holding of the special event on the proposed date or at the proposed location.”

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By: Jonas Nyabor/citifmonline.com/Ghana

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According to him, politicizing the fight will undermine the efforts of security agencies to clamp down on their illegal activities.

[contextly_sidebar id=”LMsZkkGxF6fsmcKA2cTogjZFiPTDbbvS”]Addressing a question on the floor of Parliament by the Member of Parliament for Asawase constituency, Muntaka Mubarak, Mr. Kan Dapaah said such groups were not legally registered hence are not recognized by law.

“I believe it is important that we stop the activities of all such groups irrespective of what political party they are affiliated to and I continue to urge the house to help us find a solution to this problem. Which I must repeat again, it has all the tendencies to create huge security problems for us in the future.

“Let’s all come together, let’s get all such action groups to recognize that they are not to operate in the country and if they do, it will be taken as a law and order issue and they will have to go through the laws of the country as their punishment,” he said.

Some vigilante groups particularly affiliated to the New Patriotic Party in recent times, are reported to have carried out various violent attacks on some individuals, and taken over some state agencies following the party’s election victory.

One of such groups, Delta Force, recently stormed the premises of the Ashanti Regional Coordinating Council and forcibly ejected the newly appointed regional security coordinator, Goerge Adjei from his office.

But speaking in Parliament on the matter, Kan Dapaah said, efforts are being made to stop such groups.

“There are no legally registered vigilante groups in this country and for that matter, there are no such groups to be disbanded. However, I think we need to be pragmatic and accept that foot soldiers of the leading political parties are known to constitute themselves into action troops to molest and unleash violence on the peace loving people of this country.”

“Mr.  Speaker, we need to stop these groups because they have the tendency to degenerate into militant groups that can have serious repercussions on the security of this country. We must not mix criminality with politics, lawlessness must be punished. Government has made it clear through the IGP to deal appropriately with all criminals,” he said.

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By: Jonas Nyabor/citifmonline.com/Ghana
Follow @jnyabor

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He said some of these threats are terrorism, cybercrime and drug trafficking.

Mr. Kan-Dapaah said this when he accompanied Members of the Parliamentary Select Committee on Defence and Interior, to call on the Minister for Defence, Mr. Dominic Nitiwul, during a lunch meeting in Accra.

He said a number of security-related incidents had occurred in some neighbouring countries, and therefore one of the major challenges facing the country was to prepare adequately to counter any threat likely to confront Ghana.

Mr. Albert Kan-Dapaah, the Minister of National Security, who accompanied the committee members, said he and the Defence Minister wanted to have the opportunity to meet the committee as a team.

He said it is important that both groups know each other and set to work together.

Before arriving at the Black Star Square, the National Security Minister said the team visited the Dog Academy of the Ghana Armed Forces, and expressed the view that dogs are a very important resource in helping the nation to confront these emerging threats.

Meanwhile, Members of the Parliamentary Select Committee on Defence and Interior have expressed their readiness and willingness to assist and cooperate with the Minister for Defence and the heads of other security services on security matters.

The Committee also urged the Ministry for Defence, Dominic Nitiwul, to engage more with the committee in terms of contribution and suggestions.

Major Derrick Oduro (Rtd), the Chairman of the Committee, called on the Minister not to see the Committee as a body seeking to police the Ministry, but as “partners” on the same bearing for the development of the country.

On his part, the Defence Minister said this first meeting was the beginning of a series of engagements between his Ministry and the MPs.

He reiterated the need for Parliament to get closer to the Executive, and urged the MPs not to hesitate to make any suggestions they thought necessary.

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Source: GNA

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Osafo Maafo, senior Minister nominee, will be the first to appear before the committee, which is also popularly referred to as Vetting Committee, followed by Kan Dapaah, who will head the Security Ministry.

Finance Minister-nominee, Ken Ofori-Atta, as well as nominee for Defense, Dominic Nitiwul, will all take their turns on the first day.

Day two

The committee will further sit on Saturday, January 21, 2017, to vet Attorney-General & Justice Minister-nominee, Gloria Akuffo, and Minister-nominee for the Interior Ministry, Ambrose Dery.

Day three

On Monday, 23rd January,  2017, the Committee will also vet Minister-nominee for Local Government & Rural Development, Hajia Alima Mahama, Minister-nominee of Trade and Industry, Alan Kwadwo Kyerematen, Minister-nominee of Agriculture, Dr. Owusu Afriyie Akoto, and Minister-nominee of Energy, Boakye Agyarko.

Day four

Shirley Ayorkor Botchway, Minister nominee for Foreign Affairs, Dr. Matthew Opoku-Prempeh, Education and Kwaku Agyeman-Manu, Health, will appear before the Appointments committee on Tuesday, January 24, 2017.

In all, 36 nominees would be vetted.

Vet security minister in camera

Ahead of the vetting, security agency, Eagle Eye International, has called on Parliament to vet nominees for Defense, Interior and National Security in camera.

Eagle Eye argues that, information and security strategies that would be given out in response to questions asked them at the vetting committee might put the security of the country in jeopardy.

“We have watched carefully the vetting of Ministers and their Deputies in the past, and know how information is divulged during the process, in the quest of parliament to know the qualification, experience and strategies, the nominees intend to adopt to make their ministries stronger and more effective…It is a major security threat, in our view, to lay bare for instance, plans to make the strategies of our nation better. We may compromise the security of our country if we deliberately or involuntarily divulge some sort of information to those we are protecting the country from,” Eagle Eye International said in the petition.

Below is the full list of members on the Appointments committee:

Joseph Osei-Owusu (MP for Bekwai and First Deputy Speaker) – Chairman

Adwoa Safo (MP for Dome Kwabenya and Deputy Majority Leader)

Kwesi Ameyaw Cheremeh (MP for Sunyani East and Majority Chief Whip)

Dominic Nitiwul (MP for Bimbilla)

Samuel Atta Kyea (MP for Abuakwa South)

Matthew Opoku Prempeh (Manhyia South)

Daniel Nii Kwartei Titus-Glover (MP for Tema East)

Ursula G. Owusu-Ekuful (MP Ablekuma West)

Joseph Kofi Adda (Navrongo Central)

Joseph Cudjoe (Effia)

Patricia Apeagyei (Asokwa)

O.B. Amoah (Akwapim South)

Kofi Amoako Hene (Atebubu)

Anthony Karbo (Lawra)

Barbara Asher Ayisi (Cape Coast South)

Micheal Yaw Gyato (Krachie)

Minority:

Haruna Iddrisu (Minority Leader and MP for Tamale South) – Ranking Member

Mohammed Muntaka Mubarak (Minority Chief Whip and MP for Asawase)

Mahama Ayariga (Bawku Central)

Sampson Ahi (Bodi)

Eric Opoku (Asunafo South)

Bernice Adiku Heloo (Hohoe)

Joseph Yieleh Chireh (Wa West)

Edwin Nii Lantey Vanderpuye (Odododiodioo)

Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa (North Tongu)

Alhassan Suhuyini (Tamale North)

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By: Godwin A. Allotey/citifmonline.com/Ghana
Follow @AlloteyGodwin

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I did not have the benefit of listening to your Press Conference held on Friday, 25 November 2016, but I have read the reportage as captured on Ghanaweb the same day and to tell you the truth I was not amazed. You will recall that I had the great honour of serving my country as Minister of Defence and in that capacity I worked with you and many distinguished servicemen and women. I got to know you personally during that period and as you are aware I have tremendous respect for your high sense of professionalism and patriotism. I think that some of your pronouncements and indeed posture at the press conference were an attack on some of the values that the military hold dearly. I have since taken the liberty to discuss it at length with my friend the former Deputy Attorney General, Hon. Kwame Osei Prempeh and we have decided to send to you this Open Letter. We do this not out of malice but because we believe that certain principles must be protected.

Our first concern is that your pronouncements at the said Press Conference pose a threat to the Liberal Democratic  path (a hybrid of the US/Westminster systems) which we have embarked on since the beginning of the fourth republic in 1993 and this must be of concern to all well-meaning Ghanaians. The concept of civilian control of the military has been dealt a big blow. Coming from the CDS and considering the timing, we think that this is rather unfortunate and should be a matter of great concern to all of us – politicians, including the ruling government, civil society groups, the Council of State and the public at large.

Secondly, we are of the opinion that considering your position as the CDS, especially your mentoring responsibility, your posture was too aggressive and your choice of words and patronizing manner as you delivered your warnings to your compatriots (including His Excellency the President) left much to be desired of a top military officer in a liberal democracy. Not surprisingly, many people have commented that your attitude was akin to military dictatorship or the authoritarian democracies that are gradually emerging in our part of the world.  Certainly your posturing did not suggest to many observers that as the head of our Armed Forces you would want to submit yourself to civilian control. Did the Chairman of the Armed Forces Council or the Minister of Defense authorize you to come up with all those policy statements which have serious implications for the security of our country?

You stated that you have assessed the security situation in the run up to the election and you see enemies of state everywhere who are hell bent to disturb the peace and stability of our dear country and that such law breakers or “warmongers” would be crushed on election day. But, if we may ask why not before? Why do you want to wait till the day of the election? Again what would happen after the so called warmongers have been crushed on the day of the election?

Thirdly, two fundamental issues arise out of this conference and must be answered.

1. Did you as the CDS, hold the press conference on your own initiative without the approval of the Commander in Chief or his representative, the Minister of Defence?
2. Did the President and the Commander in Chief or the Minister of Defence approve the press conference and thus the plan to crush unarmed law breakers on Election Day with military force?

An affirmative answer to either question has serious implications not only on civilian control of the military in a liberal democracy but also the use of military force in any   internal security operations.

Fourthly, we find it strange that you as CDS took the centre stage at a joint press conference with the Inspector General of Police in a security operation in which the military must only play a supporting role. Any wonder that some members of the populace have argued that  the purpose of the press conference was to create fear and panic  with a view to intimidating  voters who want to exercise their franchise?

Our humble advice to you is to tone down the rhetoric and also reduce your public pronouncements. Such public pronouncements should be led by the Minister of Defence with the CDS in support to explain operational issues, if necessary. That way, the Minister takes responsibility for any lapses and shields the CDS from public attacks which have the potential to erode confidence in the military.

If indeed, you had the permission of the President to embark on this media blitz where you threatened to use the full force of the military on unarmed civilian protagonists in an election in which the Commander in Chief himself is a candidate then this must be worrying.

Equally disturbing is the moral question of using the military force against one’s own citizens in an election disturbance which the civil police should ordinarily be able to handle.

Furthermore, it raises the issue of unwittingly inviting the military into the political space. We must at all times insulate the military institution from politics and public attack and ridicule.

It is important to emphasise that civilian control of the military in a democratic dispensation is all about the civilian authority being the ultimate decision maker in as far as the use of  military force is concerned .The military then carries out the execution of the assigned tasks professionally and  without much interference from the civil authority.

Our humble plea is that at this point in time we must focus on finding solutions to all issues which have the potential to trigger violence even before the elections on 7th December 2016. We do not have to wait until Election Day before we “crush” the warmongers so to speak. That will be too late in the day and in any case, what happens after we have crushed the warmongers? The unintended consequences are too dire (including military takeover) for us to contemplate.

At this stage, permit us distinguished CDS, to ask you to join us to admonish the major actors during this election season as follows. The main actors in this election are the political parties, the Electoral Commission, Civil Society groups including the media, Ghanaians, our security agencies and most importantly our President and Commander in Chief of the Armed Forces who is also a candidate and has the responsibility of controlling the security agencies.

We appeal to all the actors to exhibit professionalism tinged with a high sense of integrity and selflessness in discharging whatever duties are expected of them.  In particular we urge you to advise the President not to get the military involved in any contentious election duties (such as keeping ballot boxes  in its custody) in order to avoid dragging the military into any quagmire.

The current arrangement whereby the military plays a supporting role to the police in election security should suffice for now if we are to avoid embroiling the military in any election dispute. The military is so vital an institution whose image we must all protect.

All political party leaders should urge their members and supporters to refrain from any acts of provocation that can lead to violence. Whereas it is the responsibility of the governing party to ensure there is peaceful election, the opposition parties should also note that they cannot achieve their aim of effecting a change in government if the election cannot take place due to violence. They both have a shared responsibility of peaceful co-existence and therefore must exercise restraint even under extreme provocation.

The Electoral Commission (EC) has a very herculean task. The success or otherwise of this election rests squarely on its shoulders. There will always be provocation from the political actors. The EC’s ultimate goal is to deliver a free, fair and transparent election. The professional abilities, integrity, selflessness and above all the emotional intelligence of its staff will come into play if the EC is to succeed. The Commission has a rich history of delivering credible elections and we recall the wonderful work of Justice Abban (Electoral commissioner in the 1970s) who fearlessly refused to change the people’s verdict to the wishes of the then military government during the UNIGOV referendum in 1978. How we wish we could return to those good old days when the value of integrity and selflessness of state officials was the norm rather than the exception.

Our final advice to the security agencies is for them to discharge their responsibilities to the best of their ability bearing in mind the timeless values of Service and Integrity.

We assure you, our distinguished CDS that we have published this Open Letter without any malice and we hope that you will carefully consider the suggestions and pieces of advice contained in this letter.

With assurances of our highest esteem, we remain,

Hon. A. Kan-Dapaah,                                                                  Hon. K. Osei-Prempeh

Former MP and Minister of Defence                                Former Deputy Minister of Justice & Deputy Attorney General

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The event will be held at 4:30pm at the Christ the King Hall in Accra.

Some speakers who would speak at the symposium includes Albert Kan Dapaah, Former Minister of Interior, Nana Kobina Nketsia V, Omanhence of Essikado Traditional area and Justice Emile Short, Former Commissioner of the Commission on Human Rights and Administrative Justice (CHRAJ).

The forum held a similar event in August this year touching on the issue of press freedom and responsible journalism in Ghana.

Some of the speakers who spoke at that event were renowned lawyer, Ace Ankomah, veteran journalist and Editor of the Chronicle newspaper, Ebo Quansah, and former Cabinet Minister and respected veteran international journalist and writer, Elizabeth Ohene.

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By: Sammi Wiafe/citifmonline.com/Ghana

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