A security analyst Colonel Festus Aboagye says attempts to provide security protection for Members of Parliament will negatively impact the efficiency of the Police Service.
He explained that including legislators in the category of persons entitled to security protection will create human resource constraints on the police.
His comment comes on the back of demands for protection by some Members of Parliament following an attack on the Member of Parliament for Nhyiaeso.
In an interview with Citi News, Colonel Aboagye indicated that the demand can only be considered if sufficient evidence is adduced to suggest that the attacks on MPs come as a result of their position.
“If we have cases that are substantiated that parliamentarians are targeted because they are parliamentarians, then that would warrant further discussions as to how parliamentarians should be protected. I am not too sure there is a sufficient basis to establish that.”
“I think already there are some categories of persons in this country who are entitled to police protection and going to add parliamentarians, considering that this number is going to go up, is going to have a toll on the police strength and the capacity of the police to deliver protection to the rest of the country. I will argue finally that everybody in this country needs protection and so we need to create a Police Service that is well resourced in order to create that safety and security umbrella that all of us on a day to day basis can go about our livelihoods,” he said.
An armed robbery attack on the Nhyiaeso MP, Kennedy Kankam in his Kumasi residence, reignited the calls by the legislators for each Member to be detailed with 24-hour police protection.
Meanwhile, former Chairman of Parliament’s Defence and Interior Committee, Fritz Baffour has kicked against the renewed calls by Members of Parliament to have around the clock security protection.
The former Ablekuma South MP, who served as Minister for Information and Tourism argued that the associated cost of the demands being made by the Parliamentarians is rather too high.