NORTHERN CONFLICTS: MINISTER CAUTIONS SELF-ACCLAIMED SECURITY EXPERTS AGAINST COMMENTS
The five Regional Coordinating Councils (RCCs) in the north have called on “self- acclaimed” security experts to be circumspect in their comments on conflict issues in Northern Ghana.
According to the RCCs, the “so-called” security analysts did not know the dynamics in the regions, yet of they discussed same on national television and radio.
“Some people sitting in Accra call themselves security experts who have all the knowledge of security problems in the north but they don’t know anywhere in the north,” Hon. Stephen Yakubu, the Upper East Regional Minister said.
The Minister raised the concern in Bolgatanga at a day’s meeting on the Second Dialogue of State and Non-State Actors on effective promotion of Peace and Security in Northern Ghana.
He said it was important for “self proclaimed security analysts” to ensure they had the history of happenings in the region with facts and figures before they discussed issues of security, and urged the RCCs to collaborate with the necessary establishments to caution such people in other not to flare up passions in the already tensed conflict areas.
He mentioned issues of chieftaincy disputes, tribal conflict, land boundary disputes, armed robbery and lately, attacks on passengers in buses along the Bolgatanga-Walewale stretch of road as some of the major security issues in northern Ghana.
“We are grappling with numerous security challenges ranging from land disputes to the threats of terrorism and violent extremism. The latter threat mainly stem from the region’s proximity to the Sahel which has been battling with Jihadists attacks with possible spill-over effects in our country,” he said.
The Regional Minister indicated that intelligence gathered indicated that Ghana and for that matter the Upper East Region appeared to be the safe haven for terrorist groups when they were being flashed out from present conflict zones in neighbouring countries.
He, therefore, called on all key stakeholders working on peace and security in the Northern Ghana to brainstorm and ensure that the emerging national security threat did not fester in the already fragile local security challenges.
The North East Regional Minister, Hon. Yidana Zakaria appealed to his colleague politicians to use politics as a tool for development but not fement trouble, specially as the political season drew closer.
He charged stakeholders in the peace and security space to adopt a naming and shaming strategy of politicians who engaged in politics of divisiveness as a way to keep them in checks.
The one day meeting was also graced by the Northern Regional Minister, Hon. Alhaji Shani Alhassan Saibu, RCC Chief Directors from the five RCCs and some NGOs including Star-Ghana Foundation, UNSAID, the Northern Development Authority among others.
