A former Senior Governance Adviser to the United Nations Mission in Liberia, Professor Baffour Agyeman-Duah, has postulated that providing security should be based on threat assessment.
“Unless there is a security threats that has been assessed, if that threat requires military protection and then agencies in their wisdom will certainly deploy the military,” he stated.
Professor Agyeman-Duah, who is also the Chief Executive Officer of the John Agyekum Kufuor Foundation, noted that important personalities were moving around with state security at the cost to taxpayers when there was no real need for it and welcomed the withdrawal of the soldiers to ensure streamlining of the system.
Speaking in connection with the withdrawal of military attached to the Office of the Speaker of Parliament by the Ghana Armed Forces (GAF), he explained that the deployment of security officers should be based on real threats assessment done on a situation to establish the need.
Asked whether the withdrawal of the soldiers makes the Speaker naked in terms of his security, Prof. Agyeman-Duah questioned why people were now supporting the military’s support for the Speaker and the whole notion of security protection had become a status’s symbol, rather than a real need for it.
“Sometimes Metropolitan Municipal and District Chief Executives attend functions with police holding their bags, our ministers have police as bodyguards without any real threat, the more we deploy our security personnel for private use like we are talking about, we have to remember is the state resources we are using or abusing, other than that the police should be in charge always.
“Withdrawing the military is not making the Speaker naked but streamlining the system, issue of security must be treated very carefully because people’s lives depend on it, issue of security protection in most democracies, we have what we call permanent protection for the executives and if you go to the United States for instance, they form special group fully dedicated for presidential protection.
“All other kinds of protections are interim and temporary depending on security threats to those individuals or institutions, when we talk of giving security it has got to be based on a threat assessment which basically is processes whereby you evaluate and verify perceived threats including their likelihood.
“In that respect, if you look at the Speaker you just have to find out whether there is current threat to the person and nature of threats, based on that you devise the protection, another point to make on this important conversation is, when it comes to the military we have to be careful… if military protection has been provided over the years, to speakers I will be surprised because it is wrong, I think such individuals do not require military protection,” Prof. Agyeman-Duah contended.
He cautioned against militarising civilian governments and also avoid civilising the military since there were police and other security agencies who could do the job unless there was serious need for combat battalion to ensure protection. -3news.com
