Minister for Defence Dominic Nitiwul has indicated that deployment of soldiers to border towns around the country will be in place for three months.

He says the joint security operation dubbed ‘Enhanced Calm Life’ will be in motion until President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo opens up the borders.

The deployment of military officers at Ketu South has stirred controversy as residents in the Municipality of the Volta Region say they are living in fear and panic following the deployment of some heavily armed security personnel into the area.

The opposition NDC has alleged that government deployed the soldiers as part of an ethnic agenda.

However, Mr. Nitiwul said the officers have been deployed to different areas in order to avoid the importation of COVID-19 to Ghana.

He said “the enhanced calm life across the whole country is three months. We have given them resources as part of it. The primary reason is to ensure that people don’t come in or don’t go out. As we sit today the president has closed the borders to the 31st of July. If the president or the government opens the borders why would the soldiers be there?

“We are preventing people from coming into our country so that Ghanaians are safe from this deadly COVID disease. Because the unapproved routes are so many that Ghana immigration service alone is unable to do it.”

He stressed: “As we keep resourcing them and then getting more men into their service, so we asked the police, the military, the GRA and the BNI to assist them. Once the borders are extended, their stay will be extended.”

Touching on Marine operations, the minister indicated that “for marine, if you watch the marine news well, we have deployed more boats than we have. And in collaboration with the marine police, we have deployed a lot of boats to the eastern and the western frontiers of our country. The eastern is Afloa area and the western is Elubo area. So we have tightened the lose around the marine environment as well.”