PROOFED
Government is aiming to install 10,000 Close Circuit Television (CCTV) cameras by end of the year to enhance security in the country.
If completed, that would bring the number of the surveillance cameras to 10,800 and extend the country’s cellular capabilities to all districts of the country.
National Security Minister, Albert Kan Dapaah, in an answer to a question in Parliament on Tuesday asked of him by Wa Central MP, Peter Lunchene Toobu, said about 6,500 of the 10,000 cameras which form part of phase II of the Integrated National Security Communications Enhancement Project have been installed.
The first phase of the project which was birthed in 2012, he said, has seen the installation of 800 cameras and cellular technologies to enhance the operational efficiencies of the security and intelligence agencies of the country.
“That first phase of the project delivered 800 CCTV cameras in Accra, Kumasi, Takoradi, some critical border areas like Aflao, Elubo, and Paga, other critical installations, and some major towns across the country.
“It also delivered a National Command Center and other operation centers for emergency response and command and control for Law Enforcement, Security and Intelligence, and Emergency Response Agencies,” Mr Dapaah said.
According to him, the project was largely successful enhancing the communications of the various agencies in assisting them to detect crime, road infractions, and providing evidence to support investigations and prosecutions of many cases where some details were captured by the CCTV network.
As a result of the success, Mr Dapaah said the Government, through the Ministry of National Security and Huawei Technology and China Machinery Engineering Coporation, in December 2018, signed the contract for the second phase.
“This phase commenced in January 2020 and was initially scheduled to be completed in 18 months. However, due to logistical challenges introduced by the Covid-19 pandemic, project completion is now December 202,” he stated..
Mr Dapaah said with over 4,000 of the 6,500 powered and online mainly in Accra and Kumasi, “this has aided us to achieve many successes in detecting many infractions and criminal activities, including helping us solve recent violent crimes such as armed robbery and kidnapping”.
As part of the second phase, Albert Kan Dapaah said some 432 Regional, Divisional and District police stations of the 900 in the country have been provided with CCTV coverage to enable the monitoring of the installations.
An assessment of CCTV deployments across the world, the Minister said, indicates that countries with enhanced security have a greater saturation of camera per citizen for security and surveillance purposes.
Video surveillance systems, he noted, have become critical security tool for monitoring, providing real time surveillance and aiding security agencies to effectively identify and respond to security threats across the world.
In this regard, he said if Ghana successfully roles out it’s CCTV surveillance system, “that would make us more more effective and efficient in delivering a safer Ghana to live and conduct business in”
BY JULIUS YAO PETETSI
