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Military deployment not to intimidate residents Defence Minister

The government has denied allegations that it deployed military personnel to Ghana’s border towns to intimidate residents from participating in the voter registration exercise scheduled to commence today.
Minister of Defence, Dominic Nitiwul, addressing a press conference in Accra yesterday, said the military deployment was in support of the Ghana Immigration Service (GIS)’s efforts to stop illegal entry of foreigners through unapproved routes along the borders.
Explaining further, he noted that, the decision to deploy military personnel was informed by government’s commitment to protect the populace in the wake of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic and not targeted at instilling fear or suppressing a group or tribe.
The government, he said, commenced the deployment of military personnel together with police, GIS and Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA) personnel on February 21 last year in an operation dubbed “Conquered Fist,” designed to enforce border laws in the country.
This, he noted, involved 384 soldiers, 259 police, 172 immigration officers and 70 GRA officers and were mostly stationed in the Northern, North East, Upper East, Upper West and Savannah regions.
Following the closure of Ghana’s borders amid the COVID-19, Mr Nitiwul said, the government decided to improve security along the borders due to significant increase in the use of unapproved routes by foreigners to enter the country.
During the period of lockdown alone, more than 5,000 persons were arrested for entering the country through one of the 500 illegal routes identified so far by the country’s security teams.
On March 30 and April 20 this year, the Minister said, military personnel were also deployed together with the police as part of ‘Operation Calm Life’ to ensure increased security during and after the lockdown in some parts of the country.
A further deployment was done on June 18 and 19 to all border towns to support existing teams to close all unapproved routes to deal with illegal entry, the Minister added.
In the Upper East Region, he said, 207 were deployed to eight various locations, 102 were deployed to four areas in the North East region, 110 were posted to five locations in the Northern region while 95 personnel were deployed to nine areas in the Volta Region.
At Upper West, 69 soldiers were deployed to three different locations, 21 soldiers were posted to Damango and Bole in the Savannah Region while 44 and 13 soldiers were deployed to Bono and Western regions respectively, Mr Nitiwul stated.
He noted that the Ministry was in the process of deploying some other personnel to Gyaman North and Dormaa, both in the Bono region.
He said marine security has also been tightened through increased patrols to prevent illegal entries.
He, however, noted that the Ministry would investigate allegations that some military personnel were intimidating residents in the area of deployments.
Mr Kojo Oppong Nkrumah, Minister of Information, denounced comments by some political actors that the deployment of military personnel in the Volta Region was an attack on the people of the area.
He said government was not prepared to engage in politics that borders on ethnocentrism and urged opposing political parties to refrain from stirring ethnic sentiments and focus on supporting the country’s development.
Source: Ghanaian Times
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NHIA set to boost its cybersecurity and IT Infrastructure

The National Health Insurance Authority (NHIA), in partnership with a leading private cybersecurity solutions provider in Ghana, CyberHawk Limited, is advancing the Authority’s digital infrastructure to ensure seamless operations.
This is to safeguard the Authority’s digital technologies and maintain the trust of active members of the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS).
In this context, the NHIA Management Information System (MIS) Directorate in the Head Office, on February 11, 2024, launched a three-day brainstorming session on the organization’s cybersecurity enhancement agenda.
The MIS Directorate Ag. Director, Mr. Daniel Blankson explained that the collaborative meeting aimed to scrutinize the NHIA’s Information Technology architecture, identifying potential risks and gapsto enhance its cybersecurity posture.
“By leveraging CyberHawk Limited’s expertise, the NHIA seeks to fortify its defenses against cyber threats, protecting sensitive information and maintaining the trust of its members.”
Mr. Blankson applauded the synergy between the two organizations and underscored the Authority’s commitment to embracing cutting-edge technologies and innovative solutions to drive its mission forward.
The Head of Information Security and Standards Unit, in the MIS Directorate, Mr. Ebenezer Hooper, highlighted the Authority’s significant milestone on the digital transformation journey.
According to him, the NHIA is actively engaged in fully adopting and implementing modern digital systems to improve its operations.
He said, “The three-day brainstorming meeting will culminate in the development of a robust IT infrastructure, as well as strategic plans to translate security implementations into tangible IT cost savings for the organization.”
“There is the need to form a steering committee or IT advisory committee, operated under the Board, so that they can pay more attention in protecting the huge IT investment while ensuring cyber security-related policies are well protected,” he added.
The Project Manager of CyberHawk Limited, Mr. Chetan Narayana Murthy, lauded the collaboration and anticipated that it would empower the NHIA to implement comprehensive cybersecurity measures.
According to him, “This is a huge project that will greatly benefit the NHIA by implementing robust cybersecurity measures, safeguarding their systems, and ultimately protecting the sensitive information of NHIA members and healthcare providers.”
A Senior Manager of IT infrastructure, Mr. David Asare Addo, and his colleague, a Senior Manager of Applications, Mr. Enock Afanyi, with the MIS Directorate, gave an overview of the NHIA’s current technological landscape.
Present at the meeting were representatives from the Claims, Membership and Regional Operations (MRO), Research, Policy, Monitoring, and Evaluation (RPME), Corporate Affairs, the Audit, Administration, and Human Resource Directorates.
Story By : Vivian Arthur
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Swedru All Blacks back to winning ways, Roshan humble King Faisal

Sekondi Rospak FC made it eight wins in eight successive home games after three second-half goals from John Amoah, Joseph Ntow and Stephen Anthony Kofi. John Amoah opened the scoring in the 55th minute after a barren first half. Joseph Ntow added to the tally in the 56th minute before Stephen Anthony Kofi rounded things up in the 74th minute to give Rospak a 3-0 win over former Premier League side King Faisal.
Elsewhere at Swedru – leaders Swedru All Blacks humbled PAC Academy in an emphatic 2-0 win. Zayat Bubakari scored first for Swedru All Blacks in the 27th minute before Rudolf Junior Nana Kwasi Mensah made it 2-0 in the 34th minute. Swedru All Blacks are top of the table with 36 points – 4 points ahead of second placed Rospak FC.
Meanwhile, Former Premier League side Cape Coast Mysterious Dwarfs recorded their fourth successive home victory after beaten New Edubiase United 2-1 at the Robert Mensah Park. Enoch Odoom struck first for Cape Coast Mysterious Dwarfs in the 19th minute but Steven Asante equalized for New Edubiase United before halftime. After the interval, Godfred Eshun scored from distance in the 65th minute to help Cape Coast Mysterious Dwarfs secure all the points.
Here are the results in Zone Two
