Government scored low on national security

Panelists on 3FM Late Edition Show have cautioned government to be more proactive in dealing with national security issues.

Speaking on the achievements of the NPP government’s 100 days in office, a member of the opposition National Democratic Congress Kofi Kukubor lamented that government has failed woefully on national security issues. “Government needs to come out strongly to assure ordinary citizens.

The President has not exercised his powers enough. We are not interested in the utterances and directions. We have not been guaranteed the security that is enshrined in the constitution” he added.

On the thorny issue of the Delta Force vigilante group invasion of a circuit court in Kumasi, Mr. Kwame Jantuah a member of CPP called on President Akufo-Addo to stop directing the police to act and put members of his party in line as head of the NPP.

“The responsibility lies with president and all the powers that be, to make sure this attitude of impunity is stopped. If the Inspector General of Police (IGP) is not acting the way he is supposed to act, take him out and bring someone else who can do the job”.

Mr. Jantuah also expected the Speaker of Parliament to have called to order Kennedy Agyapong, Member of Parliament (MP) for Assin Central for his public support of the vigilante group and publicly condemning the National Security Minister Kan Dapaah.

Mr. Jantuah who also sits on the Public Interest and Accountability Committee as Vice Chair asked for a serious interrogation on the constitutional review whitepaper. He said as part of the reviews, the IGP should come from an independent body and not be handpicked by the President.

On his part energy analyst, Kojo Poku wants government to revisit the criminal code to bring it to modern standards. He said the punishment for some criminal offences are rather lenient and are not deterrent enough. “I have that problem with a lot of areas.

On the galamsey menace that we are trying to fight, what are the laws if someone is taken to court? What is the punishment?

It is similar to very low penalty points and so the problem is not the act but the criminal code”.