An international conflict management expert, Dr Kingsley Adjei, has questioned the readiness of Ghana’s security forces to respond to any potential terrorism threat to the country, describing the government’s alert as “belated”.
The government on Wednesday issued an alert of a possible terrorist threat in the country in the wake of the upsurge of terrorist attacks in the sub-region. It thus asked the general public to be vigilant, cautious and curious as it stepped up its counter-terrorism measures.
But speaking to Winston Amoah on Sunrise on 3FM Thursday, Dr Adjei said “I think it’s quite belated and I think we are prone to attack and that started long ago. But for the attack in the Ivory Coast, what would the government or the security agencies have told us and I can say some of us knew this long ago.”
Dr Adjei argued that if the country’s security agencies were up to the task, they should have known these possible threats long before now considering the activities of Boko Haram, al shabaab and other militant groups in neighbouring countries.
“You know the proliferation of these terrorist groups. we have Al Shabab where our own professor went to Kenya and was killed. We have Bukom Haram and so many others we cannot name being in the system and if our own security agencies were up to the task they should have known this long ago and given us this caution,” he indicated.
He said the government’s warning to the people was largely influenced by series of terrorism attacks being record in the sub-region, with the recent one being Ivory Coast.
He observed that there was some kind of difference in the dynamics of the attacks Mali, Burkina Faso and Ivory Coast, saying “these are all French-speaking countries and they have some affiliations with the Metropol which is France and if you would remember France has been attacked twice from 2014 and so France is on alert”.
“In international relations and international conflict, my enemy friend is my enemy so if I cannot attack my enemy because of my enemy’s resilience and strength, then I would have to attack the younger or weaker friend,” he argued.
According to him, the only thing that puts Ghana in danger is the branding of the country as an oasis of peace in the sub-region, adding “anything goes because everybody who is seeking refuge comes here.”
“Wherever there is peace is where terrorist visit so we have to make sure everybody understands the situation by putting in place all the necessary measures such as decentralizing all the pieces of information across the country and educating everybody on their day to day movements”.
By Nana Afrane Asante|tv3network.com|Ghana