Old picture of EC Chairperson Jean Mensa with her military security detail

The Minister for the Interior, Mohammed-Mubarak Muntaka, has confirmed speculative reports about the removal of the military team providing security for the Chairperson of the Electoral Commission, Jean Adukwei Mensa.

Speaking on the matter in a JoyNews interview on Friday, July 4, 2025, and monitored by GhanaWeb, Muntaka clarified that the military detail had been withdrawn and replaced with a police team, questioning the rationale behind assigning military personnel to provide security for civilians.

He explained that the new procedure, assigning police to provide security for all high-ranking officials in the country, was in line with a government decision not to use the military for such duties.

“Let me say, that is not true because the EC herself, I don't know whether you’ve spoken to her. I personally spoke to her after the meeting and we agreed that we were no longer going to use the military to provide civilian protection.

“So, the guards were withdrawn and replaced with the police so, if you ask her she will tell you she has a bodyguard, she has police manning her gate both day and night and therefore, it is never true if anybody says that her security has been withdrawn,” the minister stated.

The Minister, who is also the Member of Parliament for Asawase, explained that the EC Chair is not the only affected person under the new directive, adding that all high-ranking officials who previously had military protection have had it withdrawn and replaced with police personnel.

“What we do generally is to provide security around every neighborhood. VVIPs like the chair of the Electoral Commission, she has a personal bodyguard (sic) just like the chief justice, the speaker of parliament and all others and that's what we are doing. And I'm sure you can call her and find out and she can confirm that both her and her office is protected,” he said.

Mubarak further expressed the view that the military are not trained to provide civilian protection, stating that such actions tend to send the wrong signals to the citizenry.

“Why should military be performing a civilian function? I mean, our country is not at war. Why should you draw in the military? The use of military sometimes sends wrong signal to the ordinary citizen.

“Police are trained with a civilian mind while the military are supposed to constantly provide security for our external or territorial integrity. So, when we draw them in, we are reducing the number of personnel that the military has to perform those difficult tasks that is usually performed by the military,” he continued.

He added, “That’s everywhere, I mean you can find out from the former defense minister, you can find out from almost all the civilians that were using military protection. All of that have been withdrawn, all without exception. And this is a decision that we took as a new government and that's our policy.”

MAG/MA

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