Parliamentary Select Committee on Defence & Interior Visits Hamile Border Post
 
The Chairman of the Parliamentary Select Committee on Defence and Interior Fritz Baffour has described as an eyesore the security system at the Hamile border post which remains as the main entry point from Burkina Faso to Ghana via the Upper West Region.
 
He said apart from the appalling nature of infrastructure coupled with inadequate logistics, the border is seriously porous and can serve as the conduit for a possible outbreak of the Ebola disease in the country if urgent measures are not adopted.
 
Mr Baffour raised the alarm when some members of the committee interacted with the Regional Security Council, REGSEC at Wa after paying a working visit to the Hamile Border Post.
 
Radio Ghana’s Correspondent, William Owusu Boateng reports that the Committee on Defence and Interior was in the Region to learn at first hand the general security situation as well as the quantum of preparedness towards the prevention of Ebola outbreak in the country through the borders. 

The meeting brought together members of the REGSEC including commanders of all the Security Services who took turns to brief the committee on their activities and operations with the emphasis on Ebola prevention. 

The Chairman of the Select Committee Fritz Baffour said the work of the committee is non partisan in nature but rather inspired by the public agenda to make Ghana the oasis of peace in the sub region. 

He therefore entreated the service commanders to come out with their operational strategies and challenges to inform how best the committee could be of help. 

The Regional Police Commander DCOP Kwesi Duku identified the region as the most peaceful in the country with a minimal crime rate. 

The peaceful nature of the region he said however is threatened by the influx of Fulani extracts who mostly indulge in armed robbery. 

He said available records indicate that almost all the highway robbery cases recorded in the region are perpetuated by the Fulani extracts leading to their arrest, prosecution and subsequent incarceration. 

For his part, the Regional Commander of the Prisons Services Victor Donchebe said although the service receives prison inmates on daily basis is yet to take delivery of logistics such as hand gloves and nose mask to prevent the contraction of the contagious Ebola disease. 

He decried congestion of inmates in the prison cells vis a vis the deplorable condition of the infrastructure which has not seen any significant renovation for almost a century.

GBC