Country on high alert against terrorist attacks - Minister of National Security assures

The Minister of National Security, Albert Kan-Dapaah, has given the assurance that the country will be able to respond and ward off any terrorist attacks in the country.

He said the security and intelligence agencies had been retooled and well-equipped to ward off any terrorist attacks.

"Ghana has so far not been attacked but we believe that we have to hold ourselves ready at all times to ensure that if there is an attack we will be able to handle it," he said.

Mr Kan-Dapaah stated this in Parliament yesterday in response to a question asked by the Member of Parliament (MP) for Kwadaso, Dr Kingsley Nyarko.

The MP wanted to know the current state of security in view of the instability within the sub-region and measures put in place to ensure the safety of people and stability of the country.

Measures

Mr Kan-Dapaah in his response said the state security and intelligence agencies remained on high alert to contain any eventuality.

He emphasised that safeguarding the country's security and stability remained key priority for all state security and intelligence agencies.

"To that end, we will remain vigilant and will continue to work in strengthening our capacity to effectively mitigate all forms of these attacks," he assured.

Recent attacks

The national security minister said in recent times apart from Burkina Faso, there had been attacks in Cote d’Iviore, about seven attacks in Benin, and recently, one terrorist attack in Togo.

"So far there has not been any attack in Ghana. It does not mean that the terrorists are not planning to attack. We believe they may be planning and the best way to handle it is to ensure that we also do all that is necessary to contain the situation.

“But so far there has not been any attack in our country," he said.

Retooling

The national security minister indicated that the support the government had from the Interior and Defence Committee of Parliament paved the way for the retooling of the security and intelligence agencies.

That, he said, was not to suggest that the security and intelligence agencies did not have the sufficient equipment and tools at the time.

He added that in recent times there had been a deliberate effort to retool and to add to the equipment that the country needed to ward off any security threat.

"Mr Speaker as you will appreciate, this is certainly not the place to enumerate the specific acquisitions that we have made to prepare for the terrorists,” he said.

"But I can assure you, Honourable Member, that yes, we saw the need to retool the security agencies and to a very large extent we have done just that," Mr Kan-Dapaah added.

Secessionist/other crimes

He mentioned other forms of security threats to the nation as general crime, land and chieftaincy disputes, violent extremism, piracy and activities of secessionists groups but gave the assurance that the security and intelligence agencies were on high alert to deal with them.

Mr Kan-Dapaah disclosed that intelligence gathered indicated that secessionists groups were gathering fresh momentum to launch series of fresh attacks in the country and "we are doing everything possible to manage the situation".

"As a result of this, Mr Speaker, we have undertaken a number of measures and operations in counter secessionism in the eastern corridor area of the country,” he said.

The government, he said, had also begun a series of engagement with the chiefs and people of the Volta Region to build a strong social cohesion against the secessionist agenda.

"It is worth pointing out that the activities of the secessionists groups do not have the support of the chiefs and the large majority of the people of the Volta Region,” he added.

"Mr Speaker, the state security and intelligence agencies remain on high alert to contain the situation," he stated.