Security agencies would be adequately resourced to appropriately deal with protracted ethnic conflicts and chieftaincy disputes, activities of vigilante groups, armed robbery and other activities that threatens the peace and security of the country.

In a speech read on his behalf at the opening of a two-day National Security forum in Cape Coast, Mr Dery said security agencies would operate without any political interference to enable them effectively deliver on their mandate of ensuring peace and order.

The forum was organised by the Department of Sociology and Anthropology of the University of Cape Coast (UCC) in collaboration with the Foundation for Security and Development in Africa (FOSDA) under the auspices of the National Peace Council.

The forum which is the sixth in the series of annual academic conferences by the university was held under the theme: “Ghana’s Peace and Security 6o years on: Successes, challenges and prospects”.

It was to provide the platform for experts, stakeholders and the general public to interrogate, share views and also make recommendations on how to improve security in the country. Mr Dery said issues of peace and security could not be compromised and as such Government is determined to deal with any group or individual that engages in activities that threatens the peace of the country irrespective of their tribe and political affiliations.

“We cannot allow acts of vigilante groups, illegal mining, chieftaincy disputes, political intolerance among others to thrive because of their numerous consequential effects on the development of the country” he said. Mr Dery said issues of peace and security keeps evolving with new challenges and this requires new strategic re-positioning to sustain the county’s image as an oasis of peace in the West African sub region.

Citizens have the responsibility to ensure that there was total peace and security for the socio-economic development of the country, he said adding that, lack of peace could affect investor confidence and restrict the ability of Government to achieve its vision.

“People must appreciate that security is the centre that holds all other sectors and collectively work towards the elimination of acts that are threatening the peace and security of the country”, he stressed. He bemoaned the apathy of the citizenry towards security issues and called on Ghanaians to volunteer timely information to the security agencies.

Brigadier General Joseph Nunoo-Mensah, a former National Security Advisor, said the inability of the Government and state institutions to be fair and decisive in dealing with issues of the law undermines the faith of the people in Government. He said the country was witnessing mob justice and various forms of lawlessness because people had lost faith in institutions that were mandated to administer justice.

He called on Government to have the courage and the discipline to tackle all issues that threatens the peace of the nation. Dr Brempong Osei-Tutu, Head of the Sociology and Anthropology Department of the UCC, said the forum was necessitated within the context that Ghana is threatened by various situations including drug trafficking and violent extremism masterminded by militant groups in the West African Sub-region.