A Security Expert, Emmanuel Kotin, says his checks at the National Security Secretariat show that the Coordinator, DCOP Abdul-Osman Razak, does not authorise some of the operations carried out by operatives from his outfit.
Emmanuel Kotin says the coordinator also gets to hear about some of these operations in the media.
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He cited the case of the Spaieman operation, where containers alleged to have contained gold and foreign currencies were arrested as one of such cases that the coordinator was unaware of.
Speaking on the News Central, on TV3 Tuesday April 8, he said “Look at the instances emerging from the exposé in relation to the cocaine and the fake currency notes, there has not been accountability. Our checks at National Security show that the new coordinator at the national security sometimes doesn’t even authorise some of these operations, and he also gets to hear about it in the media.”
Read also: The perception is that National Security has been weaponized against political opponents – Security Expert
When pushed to mention examples of the operations the coordinator was unaware of, he said “In the case of the Sapeiman expose of those containers it is alleged to contain gold and and foreign currency, when I did my checks, they didn’t even know the national security team that went to do that operation, so if he was aware he would have known the team that went to do the operation.
“You see that accountability has become a problem. We are calling for national security to come out, let the good people of this country know about the state of these operations, and they are not forthcoming.
“When that happens, you leave the room for people to do all manner of propaganda. That is why we have the field day and people doing all manner of propaganda against this critical institution of our nation.”
Kotin further noted that the perception around national security is that it has been weaponised against political opponents.
To him, this perception goes a long way to affect the overall security architecture of the country.
Touching on recent happenings in the country including the attempt to retrieve the missing cables of the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG) and the arrest of a Nigerian businessman in Accra on Monday April 7, he indicated that the perception around national security operations places a major function on the police to reform and live up to its mandate.
He said, “National Security, especially under the fourth republic, if you talk to citizens in Ghana today, the perception is that national security has been weaponized to target political opponents. Perception goes a long way in affecting the overall security architecture of this country
“I think it is a challenge to the police as an institution to reform and live up to its mandate. In the case of the Nigerian businessman, what does the Deputy Director of operations at the presidency have to do with matters of serious concerns of that nature, and he was even the spokesperson for national security?
“The shape and form of national security now is so fragmented, you have all the allied security agencies having their own setup of national security, and we have the party in power also having its own national security.
“If you go to the harbour, it will surprise you that when you take your container through the process, some party boys will come as national security operatives, and you have no option but to let them take whatever or at best, they take money and go.”
