The Minority says Ghana’s security landscape has worsened dramatically, leaving citizens to “sleep with one eye open” barely a year into President John Dramani Mahama’s renewed mandate.
Citing statistics acknowledged by the Interior Minister, Deputy Minority Leader Patricia Appiagyei noted that as of July 2025, Ghana had recorded roughly 628 armed robbery cases and 340 murders involving illicit firearms—an alarming number for just half a year.
“The security situation has deteriorated, transforming our once-peaceful nation into fear and uncertainty,” they said at a press conference in Accra on January 8.
According to the Minority, many Ghanaians no longer feel safe in their own homes, attributing the trend to politicized policing and a neglect of essential security institutions.
“This is not something that can be brushed aside with ceremonies and speeches,” the group said, stressing that the state’s responsibility to protect life and property has weakened significantly.
They emphasised that the crisis goes beyond funding shortfalls. “It is not merely resources; it is priority,” the Minority argued, calling for urgent leadership to rebuild public confidence and restore national security.
The group also sounded the alarm over what it describes as a sharp and frightening surge in kidnappings across the country, warning that young women and men are disappearing and that children are vanishing on their way to school.
According to the Minority, the scale and pattern of recent abductions suggest that insecurity has escalated beyond isolated criminal acts into a national emergency. “Kidnapping has risen sharply,” the group said. “Young women and men disappear. Children vanish on their way to school.”
The Minority argued that Ghana’s response has been dangerously insufficient, insisting that the situation requires more than short-term or reactive measures. “We need a comprehensive national security strategy, visible results, and sustained leadership,” the statement stressed, cautioning that without decisive action, public fear will continue to intensify.
They further raised concerns about Ghana’s borders, which they said appear gravely compromised. Illegal arms, they warned, are flowing freely into the country, enabling criminal gangs to operate with impunity and strengthening kidnappers and organised crime networks nationwide.
Despite these escalating threats, the Minority criticised the government’s approach as largely superficial.
“The Government’s response has been committees and meetings,” they said, noting that communities remain vulnerable while security agencies struggle with serious resource limitations.
The broader consequences, the Minority warned, are already affecting daily life and the national economy. “When citizens cannot travel safely on our highways, when parents fear their children will not return home, when investors question whether Ghana can protect assets and personnel, and when terrorists probe our borders, this is not merely a security failure,” the statement said. “It is a governance crisis.”
