Is the government trying to gag security capos? – quizzes security analysts

General News of Sunday, June 16, 2019

Source: Myjoyonline.com

2019-06-16

A security badyst criticized the government's decision to commit to informing the country of the rescue mission of two abducted Canadians.

Colonel Festus Boahen Aboagye (Rtd) said the Information Minister, Kojo Oppong Nkrumah, should have left the police chief, the police chief, Mama Tiwaa Addo Danquah, and Albert Kan Dapaah, minister National Security to express.

"I find it somewhat revealing that the minister chose to use the prerogative of the government to talk to us about the rescue and liberation mission … and nobody else on this platform does not want to talk to us about it. had nothing else to say, "he told Evans Mensah on MultiTV / Joy FM news badysis shows Newsfile on Saturday.

"We can choose to follow our path in this country but any similar incident occurring elsewhere, as in the United States, you will see at the microphone, the mayor, the governor, the sheriff and the police chief. They all have the opportunity to explain a little about their perspective on the operation, "he observed.

Some journalists who were in the press on Wednesday were disappointed that the head of the CID, the Minister of National Security and other senior security officials were not allowed to speak or answer questions about the operation .

Col Aboagye (rtd) said that in the future, they should be allowed to talk to the media to talk about their contribution.

"While we chose, this time, not to let the police talk, are we trying to gag them?", He questioned.

The Education Consultant at Kofi Annan International Training and Peacekeeping Center (KAIPTC) said that the fact that the police had previously declared something politically incorrect does not mean that they should be silenced .

He says that giving a senior official of security agencies the opportunity to engage with the media is in itself a "capacity building" process.

"If someone was wrong on one occasion, it did not mean that they should not be given the opportunity to speak again," he said.

Col Aboagye (rtd) also disagrees with the Minister's contention that the rescue or release mission did not have external badets.

The former CEO of the secretariat of the African Peace Support Association (APSTA) in Nairobi said the minister's statement was not exhaustive.

He expected the Minister of Information to take all the dimensions of the process of operations and decide on it.

"The term operations is not just the tactical aspect. The operations begin when the girls have been kidnapped and all the efforts made by the government with or without collaboration express it. This process included the collection of information, the processing, monitoring of certain activities and the questioning of certain people suspected of being connected.

"When Canadians arrived, consultations might have taken place, they might have had advice and recommendations. We now know that contrary to what the minister said, there is an aspect of the ransom, unpaid but requested, "he said.

He added that the appeal to the families of the two girls in Canada would have been made available to the Canadian authorities, who would in turn have informed their Ghanaian counterpart.

Col Aboagye (rtd) believes that it is "a bit difficult for Canadian authorities to make any significant contribution to this process".