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The opposition New Patriotic Party (NPP) has taken issues with state newspaper, the Daily Graphic and officials of the Bureau of National Investigations (BNI), following the arrest of three security trainers of South African origin, who were consulted by a local security firm, Delta Security, to train the party’s private security team.

The Daily Graphic on Tuesday March 22, headlined a front page story titled ‘3 South Africans arrested for acts likely to compromise national security’.

The paper further reported that the three retired South African Police Officers, Major Ahmed Shaik (retd), 54; Warrant Officer Denver Dwahye, 33, and Captain Mlungiseli Jokani, 45 – were picked up at the EL-Capitano Hotel at Agona Duakwa in the Central Region, where they had been based since arriving in the country early this month.

According to the paper, the three were said to be training some young people in various security drills, including unarmed combat, weapon handling, VIP protection techniques and rapid response manoeuvres.

The NPP, which has been linked to the incident because those who were being trained including sixteen members of the party’s private security detail ahead of a major election this November, says the state newspaper appears to have put a spin on the story to create a negative impression about them.

Speaking to Citi News, Perry Okudzeto, the NPP’s Deputy Communications Director, said it the state newspaper was irresponsible in its reportage.

“The issue is not about whether or not the NPP knows about these people. The issue is about how irresponsible our national newspaper has been in publishing a story with the kind of twist that has been put on it. The issue is that there are three former police officers who work for a security company in South Africa who are in Ghana legitimately doing business. Our security people, who are part of the Flagbearer and the running mate’s security detail, are being trained by a local security company here in Ghana which has these foreigners as consultants. They have not broken any law; they are being trained on crowd control.”

Why our security team needs training

“The continuous popularity of our Flagbearer and running mate requires that our security detail is trained on how to handle crowd and are trained on crowd control techniques and that is simply what this is about. So it’s a licensed Ghanaian security company is training our people with the help of consultants from South Africa” Mr. Okudzeto explained.


Who invited them is immaterial

Asked whether the NPP directly invited the consultants, Mr. Okudzeto said, “Who invited them to the country is not the matter for discussion.  They are working for a local licensed security company. We do not have recruits. The 16 people who work for the running mate and the flagbearer are those who are being trained and this is something we do from time to time. And the leader of these consultants who happens to be Chris, whose name has been written in a certain way in the Graphic to create the impression that they are mercenaries, has been a member of the late President Mandela’s security detail, and has been a member of Thabo Mbeki’s detail and offered VIP security training across the continent.

They’re not being trained in weapon handling

Mr. Okudzeto stressed that the men were not being trained in weapon handling and that the alarm being created was needless.

“They are here doing business and so what is the big deal about the people who invited them. Who said that they are being trained in weapon handling? They are being trained in crowd control. And the Graphic itself whatever the motive is has said that they were being trained in unarmed combat. Even me as an individual I can acquire a gun legally and get training on how to use it so it’s not a crime to train people in that, but that’s not the training they are being given.”

Private security training not unusual

The Deputy NPP Communications Director said there was nothing usual about individuals or businesses employing the services of security firms to train security personnel as long as they do not flout any law.

He said that is not only the responsibility of the Ghana Police Service.

“All the hundreds of security companies in Ghana that offer security services don’t need to get it from the Ghana Police Service. Aren’t there people who are bodyguards for individuals in this country? So a political figure cannot have his bodyguards trained? And this is published on a state newspaper and given front page as if people who have come into this country executing their mandate are criminals. I think the South African High Commission in Ghana must investigate this issue since their nationals are involved.”