Yaw Akrasi Sarpong, the former executive secretary of the Narcotics Control Board (NACOB) has called on government to prioritise threats and opportunities while implementing the newly launched National Security Strategy (NSS) document.
Speaking in an exclusive interview with Asaase Radio’s Beatrice Adu on The Big Bulletin, Sarpong acknowledged the comprehensive nature of the NSS document, adding it contains all that a national security strategy needs.
On Monday (7 June), the President, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, launched Ghana’s first National Security Strategy document, a blueprint reference document for the coordination of the total national response effort to protect and safeguard the nation from threats, risks, challenges to its security and stability from both the domestic and international environments.
Sarpong said those in charge of implementing the policy ought to focus on the priority areas.
“Well I think that the strategy covers all that has to be covered in any security strategy, and I think that it is not something that would be put out in the open, but what ought to be done on that strategy is we have to prioritise the threats and the opportunities,” Sarpong said.
He added: “My general feeling is that, land disputes, political intolerance and chieftaincy challenges as well as spreading economic opportunities beyond political bias are the key areas we need to be looking at.”
Roadmap
On his part, Brigadier General (Dr) Emmanuel Kotia, the head of the Ghana Boundary Commission, indicated the NSS has a roadmap on addressing the issue of unemployment among the youth as a means of ensuring national security.
“If you glance through the elements of the response so far as economy is concerned, it lays out areas in which there could be economic interventions at the strategic level. Now, it is also important for us to say that, building a robust economy for the development of Ghana is very key and the strategy comes out with guidelines in which unemployment can be resolved without ruling out other areas of human security,” Kotia said.
Elliot Nuertey
Asaase Radio 99.5 – tune in or log on to broadcasts online
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