The vituperations of a retired brigadier-general

Sack the National Security Adviser, Brigadier-General Joseph Nunoo-Mensah (Rtd.), now!!!

The Forum for progressive Ghana is calling for the immediate sack of the President John Dramani Mahamah’s National Security Adviser, Brigadier-General Joseph Nunoo-Mensah (Rtd.), for his unsavory vituperations made while speaking at a ceremony to commission a nine unit classroom block for the Oreilly Senior High School in Accra.

At a time when many well-meaning Ghanaians and in fact people of African descent in the diaspora are being urged to return to the continent with their expertise, skills and resources to help in the development of the country, our country’s president security adviser is literally asking us to leave the country and go to “hell”.

African Diaspora is on the rise, adding value with their expertise, funds, and time to the continent. Countries like Botswana, and South Africa, are seeing their Diaspora returning home, dedicating their time to mobilizing the continent. Last year alone, 10,000 skilled professionals returned to Nigeria and the number of skilled Angolans seeking employment in the motherland has grown 10-fold. Such waves are causing Africa to be seen as the new China and India, where economic growth could be correlated to the amount of skilled returnees.

The call by the retired Brigadier General who doubles as President Mahama’s national chief adviser can best be described as killing patriotism. Instead of encouraging Ghanaians abroad to return home to contribute in building the nation run down by the NDC government, we are asking those of us here to leave our own motherland. This is a clear indication that the President’s security capo lacks the appreciation of impact of economic hardship on security issues.

Ordinarily, the retired Brigadier General of the Ghana Armed Forces should be celebrated for his efforts at providing the nine units’ classroom block for the Oreilly Senior High School; his efforts in this direction are commendable. This has however been over shadowed by his calling on the Ghanaian worker who is reeling under the harsh economic realities of life to literally “leave the kitchen if they find the situation in Ghana too hot”.

National security is a requirement needed to maintain the survival of the state through the use of economic power, diplomacy, power projection and political power. Initially focusing on military might, contemporary national security now encompasses a broad range of facets, all of which impinge on the non-military or economic security of the nation and the values espoused by the society.

Accordingly, in order to possess national security, a nation needs to possess economic security, energy security, environmental security, etc. Security threats involve not only conventional foes such as other nation-states but also non-state actors such as violence, armed robbery, narcotic cartels, multinational corporations and non-governmental organizations, natural disasters and events causing severe environmental damage.

The current economic situation in Ghana is a huge national security threat. The recent astronomical increases in water and electricity tariffs coupled with high cost of living without a commensurate salary adjustment calls for better handling of the nation’s labor front rather than calling the bluff of the Ghanaian worker whose only crime is demanding a fair wage for his / or her labor.

The current NDC administration under President John Dramani Mahama, whose national security adviser is spewing these vituperations, decided against all prudent economic management principles and advise to freeze any increment in utility tariffs in order to gain electoral victory. This has accounted for the “killer” increases approved by the PURC. The least any national security adviser could have done was to advise the President about the security implications for poor economic management rather that issuing empty threats and asking Ghanaians to pick up their passports and leave the country.

The retired Brigadier General of the Ghana Armed Forces has by his conduct, in the socio political space under the NDC administration, betrayed the discipline and astuteness of the Ghana Army.

The FPG expects the president’s security adviser to advice on measures to ensure national security using diplomacy to rally allies and isolate threats, marshaling economic power to facilitate or compel cooperation, implementing civil defense and emergency preparedness measures (including anti-terrorism legislation), ensuring the resilience and redundancy of critical infrastructure and using intelligence services to detect and defeat or avoid threats, and to protect classified information using counter intelligence services or secret police to protect the nation from internal threats

When a national security adviser reneges on his basic responsibilities and engage with organized labor whose toil and sacrifices pay for the flamboyant life style of ministers of state, Ghana would be better served by a more focused and diligent security adviser.

Signed: • Adam Badaru , President (026 660 8175) • Joseph Nana Kofi Akomeah, Gen. Sec. (024 602 8182) • Clement Adu, P.R.O (024 923 1158)