If one security layer is compromised, others must catch it – Bentil on Ghana’s drug trafficking crisis
by Gabs · MyNewsGh.comKofi Bentil has bemoaned that the passage of a major drug shipment through Ghana exposes a problem with the country’s entire security chain, rather than the failure of one officer or institution.
The Vice President of IMANI Africa made the point while speaking on KeyPoint on TV3, arguing that Ghana has several layers of security designed to prevent exactly this kind of movement.
He said even if one group of officials were compromised, other security personnel should have detected the shipment.
“No system must rely on a few people or one person,” Bentil said.
He described the security structure as having “different concentric circles of security”, meaning that if one layer fails, another should catch the problem.
“If one is compromised, then others must catch it,” he said.
Bentil questioned how a shipment could allegedly enter the country, remain in Ghana, pass through police barriers, reach the port, go through the port system and eventually be loaded onto a ship.
“We have police barriers all over the place. They went through it, entered the port, went through the port system, put it in a ship, and took it out,” he said.
He argued that this raises questions beyond Customs or any single security agency.
“If these people even wanted to, let’s assume they are customs officers, let’s assume, and they wanted to let this thing go. You have other security there, people at the gates. Why did they pass?” he asked.
For Bentil, the key issue is whether Ghana’s security institutions are functioning together as a system.
He said authorities should not build a security structure that collapses because one person fails to perform or deliberately allows something to pass.
“The system kicked in” only after the major shipment had already been discovered, he noted, raising questions about what happened before the arrests.
Bentil said the country needs to examine every stage of the process and determine where the security chain failed.
“We need to figure out how this is possible,” he said.
Source: MyNewsGh.com
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