Tamale, 27/12/2010

Annual National Security Brief - 2010

This annual security brief, rounds off the quarterly security briefs of the Ghana Network for Peacebuilding- GHANEP, (WANEP-Ghana) for the year 2010. It highlights the main threats to peace and human security as captured by the Community Based/Owned Human Security Early Warning System hosted by GHANEP. The current brief also concludes the year’s calling on the public to maintain the current relative calm and stable peace in the country.
We recognized that inadequate logistical arrangements of the security services to enable them respond appropriately to violence and crimes further increased the potency of these threats as highlighted below.
1. Increasing chieftaincy disputes and related violence and crimes.
2. Escalating politically motivated youth violence and crimes.
3. Increasing negative activities of pastoralists (including Fulani herdsmen).
4. Rising cases of armed robbery and recruitment of our youth into it, as well as heightening media warfare between politicians.

In the face of these threats, GHANEP wishes to, as a matter of urgency,
• Exhort the National/Regional Houses of Chiefs, Parliament and its Sub Committees to discuss further and find ways to address the numerous chieftaincy and negative pastoralists’ activities across the country.
• While calling on politicians to refrain from sponsoring youth violence, urge the youth to eschew violence and also report individuals or and groups who attempt to influence them to perpetrate violence.
• Entreat the National Media Commission to increase their diligence in responding to media non-professionalism.
• We also renew our previous calls to Government, International Institutions and Civil Society groups to help increase the manpower and logistical capacity of the security services, to enable them respond to violence and crime in the country.

Through the Department for International Development (DfID), Christian Aid, the GHANEP hosted Early Warning Centre (EWC) tracks conflict/human security incidents and situations across the country through various structures and tools.

By this, we encourage the general public to report incidents of human security concern through the following options:-
By Phone Call - (Toll free: 080010029 or Hotline: 0201131885). By SMS (to Short Code 1443). How to send SMS:- type GNP(leave space) followed with the message and then send to 1443.