The Ministry of National Security has intensified its campaign on See Something Say Something initiative in basic schools to counter terrorism and safeguard the peace of the country.
This initiative follows the rise in terrorist related crimes in the sub-region and cases of coups.
Eventhough Ghana has been relatively free from these terrorist related crimes and attacks, the National Security Ministry has taken a proactive step tp educate Ghanaians and children in basic schools to be alert in their roles as young citizens, and report any unusual activity which may lead to the loss of lives and properties.
“We know we are not in normal times, there’s instability, a lot of terrorist attacks and activities in the sub-region. Where we find ourselves as a country it is very dire.
We are doing this to safeguard our peace and ensure that some of the things happening in our neighbouring countries won’t happen or have a spillover into our country”, a representative from the National Security Ministry stated.
The Ministry believes this campaign is a proactive initiative to catch-them-young which focuses on children who would spread the campaign to parents and friends,
“We are educating the children in particular to understand the security situation in a way that preempt these attacks. We are trying to establish the culture of vigilance and participation amongst our young citizens.
There are ongoing activities to protect our borders, the police and other security agencies are on the grounds as well. So this is meant to increase the human security approach within the country as there are more citizens who can help keep the country safe. That is why we designed the acronym S.A.L.U.T.E”, the representative added.
The campaign which began in November, 2023 has been to one hundred (100) schools and reached close to seventy thousand (70 000) students in Accra and Tema alone.
See Something Say Something is ‘a year long campaign which would move to other regions, however, there is no timeline to security which is an everyday activity’.
The National Security Ministry has come up with the SALUTE acronym which would help citizens to report any unusual activity.
The S stands for the ‘Size’ of Object or ‘Specific’ features in the case of a person. Should anyone see an object placed in a place where it shouldn’t be, they ought to observe and be able to describe the object.
These objects may sometimes contain Improvised Explosive Devices(IEDs) . Citizens are warned not to touch or open objects where its owners or the contents in it are unknown.
‘A’ in the SALUTE acronym stands for ‘Activity’. In the instance where a person is seen in a criminal act, it is required that the one reporting must be able to describe what the person was doing.
‘Location’ represents L in the acronym, so wherever the activity took place must be clearly stated by the one who is reporting. If it is not a person, then where the object was placed must be indicated.
‘Uniform’ stands for U in the acronym. Whoever spots a person committing a crime must pay close attention to the attire the person is wearing and report according to what the person was wearing.
It is important for the one reporting any crime or suspicious activity to indicate the ‘Time’ the activity happened and this stand for the T in the acronym.
Obviously when a person is committing a crime, there is likelihood that they used some ‘Equipments’, which stands for E, in carrying the activity. Therefore, it is imperative that the one reporting the crime or the witness must be able to tell whatever tools or equipments were used carrying out the activity.
Citizens may use or call toll free number 999 when they witness any criminal or suspicious activity anywhere. It is advised that people do not prank the system for the sanctity of the system and security purposes.
