Mensah Thompson of ASEPA writes....

Yesterday I was having a conversation with a Security Expert friend of mine who happens to be advocating for a YES vote in the Referendum for the Election of MMDCES on Partisan basis.

I asked him a simple question, "Chief, how do you rate the current security architecture of the Country...."
Before I could say Jack my friend had ran down the entire security apparatus of the Country on the basis of lack of independence of the Security Agencies and Political Interference in the work of the Security Agencies.
For a moment I thought I was speaking with ACP Agodzor or COP Kofi Boakye.

I waited patiently for him to finish his lamentations then I asked him a simple follow up question...
*"Boss, considering everything you have told me now, have you thought of the implications of having an overtly elected Political person as the head of MuSEC or DiSEC?*
or *having majority of the members of ReGSEC from an Opposition Party?*

For a moment he was speechless, he didn't get where I was going with my questions until I caught him off guard...
He was quiet for a while, didn't say a word until something came up and he had to hang up.

Knowing who he is i am sure he will spend most ot the night thinking about it.
So in honour of my friend's silence, let us spend a minute to think about this carefully.

Now let me give you a brief scenario of what could happen if you vote YES on December 17.

1.When a sitting President travels to every district, the DCE or the MCE is in charge of the President's safety and Security because the MCE/DCE is the Head of the Municipal Security Council-MuSEC or District Security Council DiSEC.
Can the NPP and NDC boldly say that they can leave the security of their President in the hands of a DCE or an MCE from an Opposition Party?

2. Can the President of Ghana, considering the level of mistrust between the two Political Parties boldly spend the night in a residency where the head of MuSEC in charge of that residency is from the opposition Party.

Mind you ReGSEC which is the Regional Security Council is made of up the heads of MuSEC and DiSEC.
So for example in Volta Region where the NDC has its stronghold, there is a high probability that majority of the members of ReGSEC will be from the opposition party when the NPP is in power, and vice versa in Ashanti Region when the NDC is in power ... have we thought of the Security implications a situation like this can have on our President?

At a time when a serious advocacy has been mounted for an Independent Security Agencies, why would anyone think having a Political Composition of ReGSEC, MuSEC and DiSEC will be the appropriate thing to do?

These Political heads will be in charge of Election materials when they arrive in a District or Region, these Political heads will be in charge of the President's Security when he travels to a region.

Like my friend I'm not sure many of the people pushing for a YES vote have thought about this...

About the fact that the current interior security structure of the Country does not support the results of a YES vote unless we are willing to undergo a total tear down and review of our internal security mechanisms.

But why go through all this hell when you can just Amend Article 243 to allow the people to elect their own MMDCES without the involvement of Political Parties, whoever is elected will naturally be at the service of the sitting President and without any Political tag that will breed a natural mistrust between the President and the DCE.

Think about it...

Mensah Thompson
Executive Director, ASEPA
0542120628

Cc.
President Akufo Addo
the Eastern Regional House of Chiefs
Dr. Eric Oduro Osae
Ras Mubarak, MP kumbungu
My friend[name withheld]