Private Security urged to operate within the law

Page 14: May 9, 2008.
Story: Albert K. Salia
THE Minister of State at the Ministry of the Interior, Nana Obiri Boahen, has stated that no private security company can operate without a licence.
He said submitting an application or undergoing the process of vetting of an application was not enough grounds for any security company to operate.
The Ministry of the Interior on April 27, 2008, issued a two-week ultimatum to all private security organisations to regularise their operations or face prosecution.
The ministry said while some of them had failed to renew their licences, others had no licences to operate and added that it had decided to clamp down on security organisations that refused to operate within the confines of the law.
Apart from not renewing their licences annually, he said, some of them had also defaulted in Social Security and National Insurance Trust (SSNIT), Internal Revenue Service (IRS), Value Added Tax (VAT) and National Health Insurance Levy (NHIL) obligations to the state.
Nana Boahen told the Daily Graphic last Thursday that following the ultimatum, some of the companies had indicated that they had submitted applications for licensing but were yet to hear from the ministry.
He said the companies had complained about the delay in the issuance of the licences to them.
Nana Boahen said while acknowledging the concerns of the security companies, it was important that they appreciated the fact that operating a security company was not just like other business enterprise hence the need for thorough investigations to be done.
“These investigations do not take a day or month. It takes time because we have to investigate the background of all the directors and vet the information provided as well,” he said.
 He said although the government appreciated the roles of private security companies in preventing crime and protecting life and property, it was important that they operated within the confines of the law.
  Nana Boahen said the Association of Private Security Organisations (APSOG) had expressed its willingness to assist the ministry to sanitise the private security industry.
He said while waiting for APSOG, the ministry was going to publish the list of all the licensed private security companies including those whose applications were being vetted.
He, however, said the publication of a company whose application was being considered was not a guarantee for it to operate.
“It is illegal to operate without a licence and illegal to operate with an expired licence,” he added.
Nana Boahen urged public and private institutions using the services of private security companies to liaise with the ministry to ensure that they engaged the services of those licensed to operate.