<<Print>>The National Security Minister nominee, Albert Kan-Dapaah, has said the introduction of a National Security Minister will enhance government’s accountability to the people on the security front. President Nana Akufo-Addo has already said the newly-created ministry will ensure a balance of security and freedom for in the security sector. In this light, Mr. Kan-Dapaah indicated that the Ministry of National Security will be handling issues like illegal mining and the more recent incidents of post elections violence.
Speaking during his vetting by Parliament, he said “as we go along, we should find a way of stopping such behavior [as the post-election distrubances] and I think the creation of a Ministry for National Security will then enable the ministry and the secretariat to be more accountable to the people of Ghana because we have to report to Parliament this time.” He also described the canker of illegal mining as “one of the major security challenges” confronting Ghana adding that, “I think we should find a way to deal with it in a manner that can stop it.” Given the sensitive nature of his portfolio, Mr. Dapaah’s responses to the questions raised during the public sitting were succinct. The vetting transitioned to an in-camera sitting, away from the media and the public, where more detailed engagement on national security issues were expected.
About Albert Kan-Dapaah
Mr. Kan-Dapaah is a Chartered Accountant by profession and a former President of the Institute of Chartered Accountants Ghana. He was a former partner in the international accounting firm, Pannell Kerr Forster. He worked in the Electricity Company of Ghana as the Director of Finance for six years before entering the Parliament of Ghana in January 1997. He was the Minority Spokesman on Mines and Energy from 1997 to 2000. In 2001, he joined the government of President Kufuor and served in the Ministries of Energy, Communications, Interior and Defence between 2001 and 2008. From 2009 to 2012, he chaired the Public Accounts Committee of the Parliament of Ghana. He left Parliament at the end of 2012, and has since been adjunct lecturer in Auditing and the Director of the Centre for Public Accountability at the University of Professional Studies, Accra.