S

NATIONAL HUMAN SECURITY EARLY WARNING BRIEF

OF GHANAWARN
Quarter Ending December 2014

INTRODUCTION
While the outbreak of cholera, which had a toll on
the population, has to a large extent been
managed via concerted efforts of the ministries,
departments as well as civil society; the Ebola
Virus Disease (EVD), with an estimated death of
8,429 people out of 21,296 reported cases1 mainly
in Liberia, Sierra Leone, Guinea, Mali and Nigeria
remains dreaded in the country. The giant strides
recorded by President John Dramani Mahama as
Chairman of the Economic Community of the West
African States (ECOWAS) in the fight against Ebola
has raised the image of Ghana and West Africa at
the international front as forthright in managing
human insecurity despite its scientific, cultural and
economic challenges.
Despite this feat, the preparedness of individual
states and the collective leadership of West Africa
in terms of political will, tact and resourcefulness
to end or curb extremism in the West African
region especially in Nigeria looks a wait in reality.
Such efforts also require monitoring the signs and
trends of ideological or doctrinal spread of,
especially Boko Haram, which continue to give a
sense of high insecurity in northern Nigeria and
across the region. The imminence of the Nigerian
elections makes the monitoring of this extremist
group more than imperative.
Locally, Ghana is reportedly saddled with
managing the growing complex phenomenon of
contract murders of prominent individuals
including politicians, business men and women,
and chiefs. These acts of murders have evidently
increased the sense of individual insecurity in the
country. Per WANEP-Ghanas early warning
reports, the phenomenon became visible towards
December 2012 when some local politicians were
targeted. Though the security apparatuses with
support from communities and individual citizens
are relentlessly working on curbing these violent
acts, the situation is yet to be brought under
control. It is imperative to also ensure that the
11

Ebola cases 'drop to lowest levels in months'

available at <http://www.gbcghana.com/1.1957190>,
Jan 15, 2015 at 11:10am

increasing culture of deaths attributed to

chieftaincy disputes are mitigated and averted
where possible.
Information being gathered from the ground by
WANEP-Ghana indicates that there is the need to
ease tensions around increasing perception of
economic hardships, anxieties over politics and
drug proliferation in the country. Evidently, some
analysts including WANEP-Ghana are concerned
that the country is being portrayed as a transit
point for drug trafficking in West Africa
(especially with Togo and Cote dIvoire) and
beyond. This requires a collective national
approach because of the threat the issue poses to
Ghanas political environment.
To suffice, unending and frequent power outages
provoked some public demonstrations in the
country and it remains an issue. Some political,
economic and social analysts have argued in the
media that the erratic power supply will lead to
low productivity in the industrial and service
sectors, increase the rate of unemployment
especially among graduates and the youth; affect
social life and general economic hardships and
these might facilitate crime and mobilizations for
violent.
On the political front, the National Democratic
Congress (NDC) party held its local and national
executive elections amidst a few skirmishes.
Similarly, the New Patriotic Party (NPP) held its
primaries on 18th October without violence.
However, some topical national issues such as the
allegation of financial malfeasance at the
Commission for Human Rights and Administrative
Justice (CHRAJ) raised anxiety and tensions about
the nations will and strategy employed to curb
corruption.
THREATS IDENTIFIED
The records of WANEP-Ghanas National Early
Warning system, (GHANAWARN) for the quarter
revealed Violent Attacks most of which were
target murders, and Demonstrations revolving
around political or governance and labour related
agitations, as posing insecurity to the populations
if not addressed. At the response level,

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Arrests/Detentions, especially relating to drugs,

armed robbery; fraud/theft and homicide were
also identified. These categories of threats have
been identified based on their frequency of

occurrence, tendency to influence other factors of

insecurity, and casualties, which require the
appropriate and stringent strategies to address
them.

REGIONAL VULNERABILITIES
Table 1:

1
6

2
1

16

2
1
1

Arrest /Detention

Total

Other;
Fraud/Theft/Property
Homicide/Target Attacks

Physical Assault
Demonstrations/Threats

Outbreak of diseases
including threats

Human Trafficking

Drug Trafficking

Arms Trafficking

Sexual Offence

Outbreak of Fire

Threats of
violence/Intimidations
Floods/Rainstorms/Earth
quakes

Armed Attack/Robbery

Ashanti
Region
BrongAhafo
Central
Region
Eastern
Region
Greater
Accra
Northern
Region
Upper West
Upper East
Volta
Region
Western
Region
Total

Accident; Motor

Name of
Region

Cumulative Regional Human Security Threats for Fourth Quarter, 2014

2
5

10
1

21

Table 1 presents summary of the records

captured within the period and as regionally
distributed. As indicated in the table, the
Greater Accra Region recorded the highest
number (44) of incidents during the period. Of
the number, 10 of these were related to
Demonstrations, 8 related to Other which
category includes incidents of fraud, suicides,
collapse of buildings, drowning, and thefts.
The regions third highest incidents were

44

15

1
1

7
4

17

14

107

33

1
7

1
2
1

18

sexual offences and armed robbery; followed

by Drug related incidents. It had a related
number of fifteen (15) Arrests within the same
period. The Ashanti Region was second with
sixteen (16) incidents captured and 7 related
numbers of Arrests. Its topmost incidents were
related to Armed Attacks/Robbery and Target
killings. The region with the third highest
number of incidents was the Northern Region
with
9
incidents.
It
had
Armed

P. O. Box 963, Tamale, Ghana. Tel. 00233-372022464.

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Attacks/Robbery as its topmost insecurity

issue. The Volta Region followed with 8, the
Eastern and Upper West had 7 incidents each,
Western Region recorded 6 while the Central
and Upper East Regions had 4 each and lastly
the Brong-Ahafo with 2 incidents respectively.
The total number of Arrests made in the period
under review was 33 with 9 of them being nonreactive; hence making the total number of
incidences recorded per the quarter to be 116.
The remaining 24 arrests were reactive and an
outcome of other incidents.
Risk One: Arrests/Detentions
As indicated in the discussion of the regional
distribution,
Figure
1,
shows
Arrests/Detentions as the most threatening
incident category. Forty percent (46%) of the
total number (72 or 100%) of the top three
incidents identified. It had an absolute figure of
33. Nine of these incidents were not in reaction
to any incident and included security swoops,
searches etc. which resulted in arrests. The
remaining 24 were however reactions to
incidents relating to various sub-categories.
Figure 1:

deaths and had the potential to escalate. Three

of the incidents were also related to political
demonstrations or governance issues (e. g.
against general economic hardships, tax
regimes/tariffs), 6, armed robbery incidents
most of which occurred in the Ashanti region,
Greater Accra, and Central regions. Six (6)
incidences each were also related to murders
and drug trafficking and 8, to issues of fraud,
corruption and thefts. One incident each was
about mining and arms trafficking. In all, one
hundred and thirteen individuals were arrested.
Though, the Graphic online has reported a
reduction in the crime rate in the Greater Accra
Region in 2014; per our records, the region still
had the highest number (15) of crime related
arrests symbolising that it remains the region
with the topmost reactions regarding crime and
insecurity.
Figure 2: Chart of sub-categorization of
Arrest/Detentions

Pie chart of top three threats

identified

Some of the notable areas where these

incidents occurred include Accra, Lakeside
(near circle) and Tema (GAR) Tamale (NR),
Patase and Akwatia (AR), Prestea (WR),
Gwollu and Poyentanga (UWR).
Though these arrests might indicate
responsiveness by the security agencies, the
record still points to the prevailing trend of
insecurity being reacted to and is a coping
mechanism. For instance, as indicated in
Figure 2, two of the incidents were related to
chieftaincy violence in Bunkpurugu-Yunyoo
and Salinkugu near Zabzugu both in the
Northern Region. These incidents resulted in

Risk Two:
Armed Attacks/Robbery
The second highest security threat is Armed
Attack/Robbery. This category has become
phenomenal and as such arouses several
concerns and questions. It indicates the
fundamental elements that create armed
robbery in the country are yet elusive to all or
to be addressed. In the quarter under review

P. O. Box 963, Tamale, Ghana. Tel. 00233-372022464.

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Website: www.wanep.org

and with an absolute figure of 21, it recorded

29% of the top three categories. Eleven (11),
about 52% of these were incidents which were
direct Homicide or incidents circumstantial of
it. Four (4) of these incidents were armed
robberies in Agona-Swedru, Tema and Accra
Newtown, Madina etc. The remaining incidents
were related to land disputes with 2 reported at
Teshie and Wa. The incident at Wa occurred
on December 27th and resulted in the death of a
woman with several others sustaining injuries.
This came after a similar case was reported in
November 2014. Two incidents each also
related to ethnic violence between Dagombas
and Nanumbas at Agbogbloshie in the Greater
Accra Region, and two (2) communal violence
incidents of chieftaincy and ethnicity at
Salinkugu (in Zabzugu) and Bunkpuguru
respectively, both in the Northern Region.
While some suspects were arrested regarding
the assassination of the Salinkugu chief, the
Bunkpurugu incident between the Jamong and
Jafon tribes in October resulted in the death of
2 persons and three others injured. These
areas, Wa, Bunkpurugu and Salinkugu as
well as Kpandai and Bimbilla remained under
threat and must be monitored closely. The
exportation of the Agbogbloshie violence to
local communities also requires observation.
Overall, 21 Homicide incidences were reported
with 20 deaths and 5 injuries. Apart from the
11 aforementioned, the remaining 6 were arrest
related; while 4 were deaths resulting from
suicides etc. The areas of tenacious concerns
where the armed attacks occurred included
Bankaman near Tema, Atiemu, Teshie (Accra);
Mampong (Ashanti), Agona-Swedru, WassaAdiembra and Bia (Western); Kokoben,
Aboaso and Mpraeso (Ashanti); and Ho, Aflao,
Alavanyo (Volta). For instance, unknown
assailants killed the District Chief Executive
(DCE) of Nkwanta South on 3 rd November
2014. Again on 13th December 2014, at
Aboaso in the Ashanti region, a 70-year-old
man allegedly stabbed to death a 16-year old
girl after raping her. But WANEP-Ghana is
worried over the trend, which shows that most
of the murder suspects are close relations,
spouses or friends of the deceases; as well as

the increasing involvement of some public

and private security individuals.
Risk Three: Demonstrations
This category includes public demonstrations
against the government, labour unrests, protest
actions such as walkouts and press statements.
In this review, 18 incidents representing 25%
as contained in Figure 1 were recorded. Out of
the number, 12 were related to politics,
governance and social disorder. Some
examples of these incidents include agitations
by some suspected National Democratic
Congress (NDC) youth at Gwollu in the Upper
West Region who demanded the removal of the
District Chief Executive (DCE) for alleged
non- performance in October. In another
incident in November 2014, hundreds of
opposition pressure group, the Alliance for
Accountable
Governance
(AFAG)
demonstrated in Accra over what it described
as rising cost of living and economic
hardships in the country. Other examples are
demonstrations by some residents of Lapaz,
and Odorkor in protest against frequent
power cuts in these areas. Other incidents
included the walk out by the Minority caucus
in Parliament against the passage of a 17.5%
petroleum tax. While these incidents might be
seen as normal, manageable and lacking the
potential to degenerate, they require proactive
responses that will curb or reduce their
occurrence in order to prevent building a fertile
environment for uprising if political or
economic conditions deteriorate.
There were also six incidents of Labour
Unrests under the category of demonstrations.
Out of the 116 incidents captured during the
quarter, 94 deaths were recorded with 96
injuries while 233 individuals were arrested.
Thirty-three (33 or 35%) of the deaths
resulted from Motor Accidents and 41
(44%) from Armed Attacks, which included
armed robbery and homicide.
OPTIONS FOR RESPONSE
Based on these data, WANEP-Ghana proposes,

P. O. Box 963, Tamale, Ghana. Tel. 00233-372022464.

Email: info@wanepghana.org or ghanep@gmail.com
Website: www.wanep.org

Individuals and groups in politics should

encourage the independence of the various
security agencies especially the police and
the judiciary to be more resilient in their
operations in order to send a strong signal
to potential perpetrators of violence and
criminality that the law is effective.
Similarly, we encourage opinion leaders to
allow the smooth and independent
prosecutions of all suspects charged with
contract murders in the country.
The security agencies should undertake
public education on acts of potential attacks
on civilians in order to ensure general
personal security.
The Executive, Ministry of Health,
Assemblies and allied agencies should
persist in the public education and
awareness
creation,
cleaning
and
disinfection as well as the training of health
personnel as measures to prevent and
manage the frequent cholera outbreak and
threat of Ebola. The assemblies should be
pragmatic in reviving the existing Sanitary
Inspectors to play their roles in ensuring
sanitation in the country.
Community monitoring of the Bimbilla,
Kpandai, Bunkpurugu-Yunyoo, Wa and all
other chieftaincy/land conflicts in the
country should be encouraged especially by
civil society to collect early warning
information for the proactive responses by
Security operatives. In addition, security
intelligence and presence should also be

increased in these areas. Security agencies

are also enjoined to make use of early
warning information by civil society as
they may have vital information.
The judiciary should continue through its
public relations outlet, make public
outcomes of court proceedings on
prominent violence situations especially
those involving murders, and which
suspects have been arrested. In relation, the
security should continue on vigorous
swoops at criminal hideouts especially
lorry stations, forests and pubs to ward of
drug and arms traffickers in order to
weaken the environment for violence.

In order to sustain and broaden this

publication, we encourage the general public to
report incidents of human security concern to
the appropriate bodies and through the
following contact:
By Phone Call - (Toll free: 080010029 or
Hotline: 0201131885).
FOR MORE INFORMATION ON THIS
REPORT AND THE GHANAWARN
PLEASE CONTACT
ISAAC BAYOR
NATIONAL NETWORK COORDINATOR
WANEP-Ghana
0372022464/ 0243329423

P. O. Box 963, Tamale, Ghana. Tel. 00233-372022464.

Email: info@wanepghana.org or ghanep@gmail.com
Website: www.wanep.org