Ghana’s security committed to providing safety for all – Interior Minister
The Ministry of Interior has assured Ghanaians, including all political stakeholders of government’s commitment to provide the required and utmost security for them.
Mr Prosper Bani, the Sector Minister, in a statement to the Ghana News Agency, called on Ghanaians to exhaust the required mandatory legal processes should the need arise for private security, as witnessed in the case of the three South African nationals.
The statement said the three Ahmed Shaik Hazis, Denver Dwayne Naidu and Mlungiseleli Jokani, were arrested on March 20, 2016 at El Capitano Hotel at Agona Duakwa in the Central Region by the Bureau of National Investigations (BNI) while training 15 men in various security drills.
It said two of the suspects – Jokani and Naidu – arrived in Ghana on March 14, 2016 on South-African passport numbers A05213410 and M00096231 respectively while Hazis arrived on March 5, 2016 with Passport Number M00052092.
The statement said Hazis has visited Ghana several times between 2012 and 2016, adding that the three retired officers of the South African Police Force came into the country on B1 visas (temporary visas) for business.
According to the statement Mr Hazis is employed by iMvula Quality Protection as Director of Operations while Naidu and Jokani work with GLAEXEC Protection Services (GPS PTY Limited) of South-Africa as Directors.
A comprehensive report on the operations of Superlock Technologies Limited (STL), the company contracted by the Electoral Commission to transmit tallied election results, and an assessment of some key staff’s vulnerability for possible compromise were retrieved from Hazis’s room, the statement added.
It said Hazis denied authoring the document saying it was given to him by Dani Isaaca, an Israeli based in South-Africa and although he claimed he had not read the document which had been in his possession for about three weeks, it was evident during interrogation that he was conversant with the contents.
The suspects also denied being invited by Captain Kwesi Acquah, owner of Delta Force Security, who was released from the Ghana Army in 1980.
However, all items for the training were shipped in the name of Delta Force Security and his hotel, El Capitano was used for the training.
Hazis, the leader of the team, revealed that Captain Edmund Kojo Koda, Head of Nana Akufo Addo’s Personal Security, who was in the Ghana Army at the same time as Captain Acquah, contracted him to train the flagbearer’s security detail and he in turn engaged the other two.
“He also disclosed that he was in the country in 2012 and worked closely with Captain Koda during the 2012 elections.”
The statement said Captain Koda on his part confirmed that he invited the suspects to train his personnel and conceded that with hindsight he should have sought permission from the authorities before engaging in that exercise.
“A review of the visa applications submitted by the three South Africans revealed that two of them (Jokani and Naidu) were invited by Dr Daniel Mckorley, Chairman, McDan Group of Companies while Hazis was invited by Nana Attobrah Quaicoe, Director of the Danquah Institute (DI). Efforts to reach the two gentlemen for questioning have so far not been successful,” the statement said.
Both Captains Koda and Acquah have been granted police inquiry bail pending further investigation.
On March 23, 2016, the Ghana Immigration Service (GIS) started an investigation into the immigration status of the three accused persons and requested the BNI to hand them over for further action. They were therefore released on March 24, 2016 as requested by the GIS, which in line with regular practice, requested that the BNI provide custody of the suspects.
Places that were searched during the investigation included the residences of Captain Koda and Captain Acquah as well as the Hotel El Capitano.
The minister said “the peace, security and stability of our dear nation and its people shall always remain paramount to government”.
Source: GNA