Operate within the law
The Minister of the Interior, Mr Mark Owen Woyongo, has asked private security operatives to submit samples of the uniforms of their employees, caps, badges and other accoutrements to the IGP for approval.
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“I would further add that people who are to be recruited by you should be vetted by national security, to ensure that they have no criminal backgrounds,” he added.
Mr Woyongo gave the directive at a workshop in Accra yesterday, organised to draw the attention of private security operatives to the regulations that controlled their activities.
He urged the Ghana Police Service to design a uniformed training programme for the private security services and companies, to ensure the same level of training for private security personnel,
Mr Woyongo urged private security companies to operate within the confines of the laws governing their operations.
It appears some private security companies are operating contrary to the Private Security Organisations Regulations, he said and noted for example that while private security organisations were not supposed to wear uniforms and badges similar to those of the police and military, many of the companies had violated that law.
Private security operations were established in Ghana by the Police Service to contribute to the overall security in the country.
Among others, the law authorising the establishment of private security operations, states that “No employee of an organisation licensed under Regulation 1 shall wear, carry or bear any uniform, cap, badge, accoutrements or other identification mark unless the uniform, cap, badge, accoutrements or other identification mark has been approved for use by the Inspector General of Police in writing.”
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The law also states that “No person licensed or granted a permit under these regulations shall or possess any fire arm or ammunition in the course of his duties.
2016 election
On the 2016 general election, Mr Woyongo said “as we enter the election year, we expect nothing less than maximum co-operation with the traditional security agencies to ensure peaceful free, fair and transparent elections”.
Noted to be a peaceful and stable country, he said, Ghana could not be complacent in its effort at dealing with security challenges and threats.
IGP
For his part, the acting Inspector General of Police (IGP), Mr John Kudalor, said the workshop was intended to remind private security companies of the law within which they operated.
It was also to provide a platform for brainstorming on how best the private and public securities could collaborate to make for enhanced security.
Mr Kudalor stressed that private security was needed to complement the security provided by the police because the latter could not be everywhere.