Kofi Ampeah Woode
The Kofi Annan International Peacekeeping Training Centre (KAIPTC) has commenced the 2023 Security Sector Reform (SSR) Course for thirty-two (32) Senior and Middle Level West African Law Enforcement Officers, to promote the use of effective intra and inter agency-networking strategies that ensure adherence to the rule of law at all levels.
The 11-day SSR Course, which also aims to bring out best practices that ensure distinct compliance to the rule of law, commenced for the 20-male and 12-female cohort, on Monday 24 April 2023.
The emergence of asymmetric conflict and security threats, which is a challenge confronting the West African Region and the African Continent as a whole, has virtually rendered the traditional policing methods inefficient and not yielding the desired results, thus, the SSR Course was developed based on research carried out by both the Police Training Unit of KAIPTC’s Training Department and its Faculty of Academic Affairs and Research (FAAR). The research outcome therefore, called for a reform in the security sector.
The course, which has financial support from the German Government, with KAIPTC conducting a Learning, Design and Development (LDD) workshop and developing the needed modules to mitigate the trends, is designed to interrogate current security policies, practices and assumptions, identify gaps and initiate new and workable responses, for a strengthened security sector.
Participants from Customs, Police, Prisons, Fire Brigades and Immigration sectors of The Gambia, Ghana, Liberia, Nigeria and Sierra Leone, were introduced to the key concepts, principles, approaches and best practices in the areas of Security Sector Reform, with specific focus on the Law Enforcement Agencies – for those with policing power.
Prior to the commencement of the Course, the participants completed a KAIPTC-mandatory preliminary eLearning course on Introduction to Security Sector Reform by the International Security Sector Advisory Team (ISSAT) from the Geneva Centre for the Democratic Control of Armed Forces (DCAF), which made it easy for them to follow the actual on-campus course at KAIPTC.
The SSR Course will look at examining the broader issues regarding peace and security in Africa, Peace Support Operations (PSO), Gender and Police Reforms, address holistic issues of Police Reform covering modules such as; Reform, Restructuring and Rebuilding of Police Institutions, Complexity of police reforms, Organizational development, as well as Managing Change in Police Reforms.
Additionally, it will also delve into Peace-Building in Post-Conflict Environments, Conflict Management, Security Sector Governance (SSG), Security Sector Oversight, Legal Aspects of Police Reforms, and Police Oversight and Accountability.
Present at the opening ceremony were the Deputy Commandant, KAIPTC – Air Commodore George Arko-Dadzie, Colonel Akanbong and Course Director – Chief Superintendent of Police Evelyn Edem Agbitor.
