The National Security Coordinator, Lt. Col Larry Gbevlo-Lartey (Rtd), has stressed that the safety of the country is the responsibility of the entire citizenry. He therefore called on all and sundry to appreciate the essence of National Security and make concerted efforts to remove whatever poses security risks to the state.
In a speech read on his behalf at the opening ceremony of the Sixth Ghana security Sector Governance and Management Course in Accra yesterday, the security coordinator noted that the sustenance of the current democratic dispensation requires an understanding of the role of the security sector, hence the need to develop the capacity for its proper management. �A threat to the nation is not a threat just to the security sector or services.
It is a threat to us all � We are stuck together in this game as team players and the ability of the security services to live up to their responsibility to protect us, relies heavily on the decisions, timely responses and inputs of other stakeholders,� he said.
According to his speech, which was read by his deputy, Mr. E. Korsivi-Degbor, it is the constant analysis of the full spectrum of constantly-evolving threats the people face that would eventually be factored into the National Security policy.
He recalled how a few months ago a heavy traffic jam between Legon and Accra Central and Spintex Road posed a threat to the peace of mind and productivity of a large number of people, saying in the context of human security, development was a priority issue. �Even for such a small project, you would be correct in saying that Ministries, Agencies, Departments, the security sector, and the private sector were all involved in the planning, persecution and execution, and actually working in concert with the singular end of reducing that frustration to the citizenry�.
Lt. Col. Gbevlo-Lartey hinted that the focus today is more on human security as against regime security, and explained that it involved protecting the rights of law-abiding citizenry to ensure peaceful and productive livelihood. The three-week course has participants drawn from about 28 agencies, and was sponsored by the Ghana Government, University of Ghana, Ghana Institute of Management and Public Administration, Africa Security Dialogue and Research and the Ghana Armed Forces.
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