The leaking lapses,the security at glance

By Ivan Kyei Innocent / nanakyei81@gmail.com

The various security agencies parading in this country have recently come

under severe vilification in relation to their mode of operations

especially with intelligence surveillance and gathering.

Discussions within the media landscape drags to bear the utter

dissatisfaction and displeasure within the general public pertaining to how

their operations are carried out.

I therefore express similar sentiments with that of the public in the sense

that, over the years, the need has increased for our security agencies to

mitigate anticipated threats more effectively by conducting vulnerability

assessment,risk analysis,emergency preparedness and other security related

issues but on the contrary,our security agencies have become the

ambassadors of corruptions,blackmailing and looting, actions which

consistently drag both the image and the developmental agenda of the nation

backwards.

Political infiltration and manipulations have subsequently robbed the

neutrality and the independence of these agencies. Indeed political

influence has submerged and subdued the functional rationality of these

sensitive agencies in the darks rendering them incapacitated.

The most nauseating aspect of these outmoded developments is that the

security agencies have become a token package used by politicians to honour

and compensate party faithfuls without any credential considerations.

This has massively contributed to the wave of

incompetence,infighting,back-bitting and pull-him-down attitude trailing

down the security intelligence in Ghana.

The implications of these barbaric and absurd manipulations brought about

by political extremism and over-entrenched political stance are quiet

revealing thus creating a vile bureaucratic agenda being perused to the

detriment of the collective interest of Ghanaians.

Recently, the public confidence in the security agencies has wane

considerable,especially the police service, no wonder matters bothering on

crime are rather referred to the media for consideration instead of the

security agencies.

The expectation of every Ghanaian at this crucial moment is quiet certain,

that our security system must deliver timely and relevant

threats,vulnerability and reputation intelligence enabling the economy of

the nation and businesses to adjust their security position based on the

emerging threats that might impact their critical system. Undeniable these

agencies are lagging behind this clue of modern civility pertaining to

security intelligence allowing politics of the belly and the relics of

greed to over-shadow their better parts.

In other dispensations like the united states, the security forces do not

need executive massaging before handling matters relating to national

security. Every group or individual activities with threat tendencies

likely to plunge the existence of peace into the tight corners of anarchy

and turmoil are meted with the appropriate responses,criminal cases are

treated as such without any fear or favour. But this is rather unfortunate

in our situation,the elements within the security agencies keep brooding in

servitude to their political masters, subsequently creeping their integrity

and professional ethics. Professionalism is nothing to boast of,moral

etiquette and professional standard maintenance have died with them

centuries back rendering these agencies void of integrity.

There have been several instances where the police force in particular have

declined to effect legally warranted arrest on matters bothering on breach

of national security just because those issues had political bearings.

The recent war-fingering and inciting statements made by some political

activist ought to have attracted swift intervention from the police or the

BNI but rather scaled over the security parameters undetected. Some of

these statements sought to distablise the existence of peace and

tranquillity and light the flame of tyranny and magnanimity endangering the

life of the citizenry. But for political affinity those unwarranted

statements were rather defended by some alleged academics for whatever

reasons known to them. The continual maneuvering of these sensitive

agencies has placed Ghana on a timely bomb likely to explode in no time.

At this time cyber crime,fraud and impersonation are on the ascendancy in

Ghana,everyone utilizing any means possible to have his or her way

through,it does not even matter if it takes to spill blood. What were once

considered as virtues of the land have been thrown to the pigs creating a

loop of moral aberrations. Carefully assessing such a horrible situation

starring at us, one would not be faulted in linking these happenings to

massive institutional failure capturing the security agencies.

It's a common knowledge, some elements in the security paradigm

particularly the police service are by themselves apostles of corruption

and looting. Hard to believe though but the truth is that,some politicians

in this country use security experts within their reach of power

manipulations for reprisal attacks, unleashing fear and terror on opponents

in whichever corner they are fingered. Conceivably broad day extortion and

robbery by some security experts under the cover of their job is quiet

problematic,a lot of policemen and women charged with the enormous

responsibility of checking road unworthiness and other traffic offences are

rather on a "desperate rampage of sheer extortion" in their daily dealings

with the public,drivers are the most unfortunate victims of these canning

adventure. For some time now several reports have come out indicting the

credibility and the integrity of these agencies especially the police

service. The situation is compounded by the fact that, heads of these

agencies are the sole initiators of these corrupt and fraudulent acts and

are therefore unfazed by these unfolding scenes of plain embarrassment and

integrity liquidation.

The most recent of these numerous reports is that of the Ghana Integrity

Initiative a chapter of Transparency International. The report figured the

police service first on the corruption sheet which is quiet astonishing and

heart-bleeding.

Convincingly corruption has eaten deep into the fabrics of the police

service to the extent where even the top brass seemed to have conceded

defeat in the fight against this cancar.

A lot of criminal activities have been offloaded to the reserved-shore and

the culprits of these heinous crimes walk uncharged under the cover of

party politics and attimes some of these criminal orchestrations warrant

deafening and thunderous applause from party brigades and others in the

gallery.

The various regulatory bodies responsible for monitoring and evaluation of

personnel in the various agencies are worse of a kind and just like our

politicians of the belly, they photocopy writings from books and memorize

them on platforms of active discussions, trading in semantics and ambiguous

grammar is all they are good for .The failure to translate what we can do

into reality keeps holding this nation into ransom.

Our security agencies are indeed crumbling under the weight of poor

managerial operations,fear,political maneuvering and many more.This has

placed the onus on us as citizens to fight and make things right because

right to security of the ordinarily Ghanaian is paramount and must

supersede all other aspects of our dealings.

To solve this witty mystery bedeviling our nation for decades, reforms must

follow,admission of persons with proper qualifications must only be allowed

into our security agencies without having any bearing on political

influence.

This would go along way to revamp the already devastated and embattled

integrity of the various security agencies.

Despite the genuine challenges sweeping the agencies, the government has

not abandoned efforts at ensuring that all necessary support needed are

provided to promote effective fight and flashout crime from our modern

society.

Until this situation changes for the better,the available resources and

revenue within the reach of the security agencies coupled with the

government's unceased efforts to provide support both monetary and

logistics would continue to be used to make a living a hell hole for the

ordinary Ghanaian.

My recommendation is simple , until heads roll down in the security

agencies and our leaders begin to share unsentimental sense patriotism,the

ordinary Ghanaian would continue to be a pawn in their greedy venture.

From Ivan Kyei Innocent

nanakyei81@gmail.com /0206262717