Networking critical to global security - CDS tells defence chiefs
The Deputy Minister of Defence, Kofi Amankwa-Manu, has urged defence chiefs in Africa to leverage on the networks established during the just-ended International Defence Exhibition and Conference (IDEC) to improve on security in the sub-region.
He said enhancing cooporation was critical to the fight against terrorism and other transnational crimes.
Transnational and organised crimes, he said, could not be fought with outmoded ideas and weapons, hence the need for networking and cooperation.
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Mr Amankwa-Manu said these at the closing ceremony of the IDEC in Accra.
Combat operation
The two-day event, which aimed at improving combined combat operations and regional development initiatives on the continent, was dubbed: “Strengthening international collaboration to combat terrorism and transnational organised crimes”.
Defence Chiefs of Staff and senior officers and executives of security agencies and global partners from Ghana, Brazil, Italy, South Africa, Kenya, Nigeria, Pakistan, Senegal, Cameroon, Togo, Cote d’Ivoire, Egypt and Uganda participated.
Organised by Dubai-based Great Minds Events and Exhibitions, in partnership with the Ghana Armed Forces (GAF) and the Gulf of Guinea Maritime Institute (GoGMI), it also featured exhibition of newer technologies in the field of defence combat, including communication and military gears.
Strategies
Mr Amankwa-Manu noted that strategies developed during the conference to deal with the canker of terrorism and transnational crimes would bring about significant improvement.
“Unfortunately, the security situation in some parts of the country continue to be a critical source of concern to the region and the rest of the world, hence the need for pragmatic and innovative solutions to our security challenges are more urgent now than ever,” he said.
Discussions from the event, he said, were of vital importance in seeking effective and practical measures to curb the shared insecurities for the development of economies within the region.
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Assurance
The Chief of Defence Staff (CDS), Vice Admiral Seth Amoama, gave the assurance that the discussions and the strategies being firmed up would not end up as a “talk-shop”, saying stakeholders had committed to undertake follow-up engagements to firm up actions against the fight.
He also indicated that the experiences shared by experts within the defence and security architecture, as well as defence solution providers, pointed to the fact that a more collaborative effort was needed against the terrorism fight.
While the vulnerability of defence and security organisations occasioned by the infiltration by insurgent groups could derail efforts in combating terrorism and transnational crimes, the CDS suggested that beyond defence chiefs and experts developing roadmaps and strategies, the influence of defence equipment solution providers was equally key in the fight.
“Terrorism and other transnational organised crimes cut across several boundaries, and no single country has the wherewithal to fight the menace,” Vice Admiral Amoama said.
Leveraging on collaboration, he pointed out, would require that nations put their resources together to fight such crimes.