The AfriKan Continental Union Consult (ACUC), Ghana Chapter, has called on the government to adequately resource and equip state security agencies to enable them to discharge their duties professionally and safeguard national security.
Dr Benjamin Anyagre Aziginaateeg, Executive Director of ACUC, told the Ghana News Agency (GNA) that poorly motivated or economically vulnerable security personnel were more susceptible to compromise through financial inducements and lifestyle pressures, a global trend that weakens intelligence systems and threatens state stability.
He questioned whether Ghana’s security agencies were satisfied with their current working conditions and whether existing welfare, safety, leadership, and accountability frameworks sufficiently supported effective service delivery and rewarded integrity and measurable performance.
Dr Aziginaateeg said history had shown that strong leadership, combined with a well-managed security architecture, was essential for sustaining sovereign authority and protecting national integrity over time.
He noted that despite constitutional mandates, several structural weaknesses continued to undermine effective national security, including poor intelligence gathering and information flow, weak communication systems, delayed decision-making, limited continuous training, inadequate technological upgrades, and insufficient welfare, remuneration, and safety guarantees.
To strengthen national security, Dr Aziginaateeg said welfare and motivation must be prioritised, stressing that competitive remuneration, housing, healthcare, and family security for security personnel should be viewed as investments in national security rather than routine expenditures.
He added that continuous in-house training, exposure to modern intelligence systems, and regular technological upgrades were critical to ensuring swift and accurate security responses.
The ACUC Executive Director further emphasised that leadership performance within security institutions should be evaluated using measurable outcomes, noting that agencies that successfully recover stolen public resources contribute directly to the country’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP).
According to him, exceeding recovery and performance targets should attract structured bonuses and institutional rewards to reinforce accountability and professionalism.
Dr Aziginaateeg cited examples from advanced security systems, including Italy, where comprehensive state support for security personnel reduced vulnerability to corruption, making compromise an act of greed rather than survival and therefore easier to punish decisively.
He said effective security institutions that clamp down on corruption and graft help reclaim resources for national development, directly supporting poverty reduction and long-term transformational growth.
