Kofi Ampeah Woode
One very important feature about the joint courses being administered at the Ghana Armed Forces Command and Staff College (GAFCSC) – an Accredited Tertiary Institution – is the advantage it gives sister and allied security agencies, particularly for the purposes of interoperability, inter-agency dependency and cooperation.
The Ghana Police Service has conspicuously been missing in a number of these courses: The Conflict and Crisis Management Course (CCMC) 2023 ended with a training exercise, and sadly, other security personnel other than police personnel, played police roles in the exercise setting.
Firstly, a time-tested internal security (IS) collaborative exercise at the Junior Division (JD) of the Staff College dubbed “EX OMBUDSMAN”, has of late been organised without Ghana Police Service participation. Secondly, the Defence Management Course (DMC) 2023, recently held, ended without a representation from the Ghana Police Service, yet almost all the complement of the other sister security services were present.
Those present were; Ghana Armed Forces, Ghana Prisons Service, Ghana National Fire Service, Ghana Immigration Service, Customs Division of the Ghana Revenue Authority, National Intelligence Bureau, Ministry for National Security, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ministry of Information, Ministry of Communication, Ministry of Gender, National Disaster Management Organization, Economic and Organized Crime Office, the Media, and some corporate institutions.
All these agencies additionally have strategic level networking opportunities to work together eschewing organizational rivalry. The Military College rounded off its two-week CCMC 2023 on Friday 21 July 2023, with no single Ghana Police representation, although, this was a programme designed to assemble all state agencies involved in state conflict prevention, management and resolution efforts.
Concern and surprise has been expressed by participants on such courses, and in some cases resource persons – including very senior Police Officers who were facilitators and guest lecturers for such courses – at the absence of the police on these programmes.
The 2023 CCMC, was opened by Ghana’s National Security Coordinator – Mr Edward Asomani, and in his address, the need for continuous collaboration and cooperation among state agencies was further underscored.
Under the pluralistic model of state security, an integrated approach is the key and way forward. In this respect, the Armed Forces as the last stop of state security and defence, is equipped to mentor and lead other state and paramilitary agencies organizations in the national effort.
The continuous absence of the Ghana Police Service during such interagency, collaborative and operation course modules, further deepens unnecessary and unneeded rivalry between the services, and affect the collateral national security interest. Increasingly, it has emerged that rivalries among stakeholders’ agencies rather create a conflict and hinder peace efforts.
It is important that the strategic leadership of the Police Service resolves any differences – assumed or real – for national security interest.
Let brotherly love continue – Hebrews 13:1 (KJV). Troublemakers start fights; gossips break up friendships – Proverbs 16:28 (Message Bible).
