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| Need for Ghana to get its defence management right - Minister |
5/22/2007 |
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Accra, GNA - Ghana should get its defence management right in order to appropriately equip, prepare and support its defence forces to meet both current and future security threats, Mr Francis Poku, National Security Minister, said on Friday.
"Considering the challenges of the global security environment, defence management today is much more demanding than it has been in the past," he noted.
"My contention is that this is likely to become even more challenging in view of various factors such as rapid technological changes, changing demographics, the increasing expectations of our people as a young democracy is sustained and the more complex security environment."
Mr Poku was speaking at the end of a two-week defence management course for the security agencies, some selected ministries and related agencies at the Ghana Armed Forces Command and Staff College at Teshie, near Accra.
The Minister argued that Ghana, like most third world countries, had a growing need to ensure greater oversight and accountability of its defence and security-related activities.
However, the country''s efforts at addressing the need are often hampered by inappropriate institutional designs and organizational cultures, as well as lack of resources, among others.
Mr Poku noted that overcoming the challenges would require clear strategic direction articulated within an appropriate policy framework.
He held that to ensure an effective and efficient management of defence, it required devising means for coordinating the efforts of all the agencies involved and to create avenues to share resources.
Thus, the means to achieve this goal is an over-arching strategy to guide the actions of each agency and to enhance coordination and communications among them.
Mr Poku reiterated government''s commitment to provide financial support for effective management of the defence sector in addition to the much needed training to provide avenue for defence managers to acquire new skills to increase efficiency and effectiveness to enable Ghanaians to live in a safe and secure environment.
The course was aimed at familiarizing the participants with the domestic and international framework within which security and defence are managed and delivered, enabling civil servants and military officers locate defence within the wider context of national and regional security.
It was also to facilitate the need for co-operation and coordination within the Ghanaian security sector, familiarize the stakeholders with the need for political direction of defence and its methods of application and for each security agency to appreciate its roles and the legitimate roles of others within security and defence.
The Ghana Government sponsored the course with support from the British Military Advisory Training Team in Ghana, Cranfield University in the United Kingdom, University of Ghana, African Security Dialogue and Research and the Ghana Armed Forces.
GNA
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