Ghana Maps Out New National Security Blueprint as NSCS Takes Consultations to Middle Belt Regions

Ghana's National Security Council Secretariat (NSCS) has launched a nationwide stakeholder consultation exercise aimed at crafting a robust and forward-looking National Security Strategy for the period 2026 to 2030. The three-day engagement, which kicked off in Techiman in the Bono East Region, is bringing together community leaders, regional officials and security stakeholders to help define the country's security priorities for the next five years.

Reviewing the past, planning for the future

The consultations are structured around two main objectives: evaluating how well the outgoing 2020–2024 National Security Strategy was implemented, and identifying new and emerging threats that must be factored into the next policy cycle. Deputy Director of Legal at the National Security Secretariat, Mr George Loh, told participants that similar engagements are being held across all 16 regions of Ghana — a deliberate effort to ensure that no community's security concerns are left out of the final document.

Mr Loh emphasised that the nature of security threats has changed significantly, warning that Ghana can no longer rely solely on conventional approaches to keep its citizens safe. "Security challenges had evolved beyond the conventional threats and approaches familiar in the past," he noted, adding that every Ghanaian now has a role to play in the country's broader security architecture. He stressed that the usefulness of the new strategy would depend heavily on the quality of contributions received from people who live and work within the regions.

Why it matters for Ghana

Ghana finds itself at a critical juncture in terms of national security. The country shares borders with Burkina Faso and Côte d'Ivoire — nations that have experienced significant jihadist insurgency activity in recent years. Security analysts and policymakers have repeatedly warned that the instability creeping through the Sahel region poses a real and growing risk of spillover into Ghana's northern and middle-belt territories.

Beyond external threats, Ghana's domestic security landscape is increasingly complex. The Ahafo Region, for instance, is home to significant mining, forestry and agricultural activity. As Chief Director of the Ahafo Regional Coordinating Council, Mr Joseph Frimpong Naayo, pointed out on behalf of the Ahafo Regional Minister, Ms Charity Gardiner, these economic activities — while vital to livelihoods — can generate their own security vulnerabilities, including illegal mining conflicts, land disputes and resource-related tensions.

By embedding the strategy-building process in regional consultations, the NSCS is signalling a shift towards a more decentralised and community-informed approach to national security. This is significant because top-down security strategies have sometimes struggled to address localised threats that national planners may not fully appreciate without input from those on the ground.

What communities are being asked to contribute

Participants at the Techiman consultation were encouraged to speak frankly about the security risks, vulnerabilities and emerging concerns facing their communities. The NSCS wants substantive, practical input — not just a tick-box exercise — to ensure the 2026–2030 strategy is grounded in reality rather than theory.

• Stakeholders are being asked to assess how effectively the previous 2020–2024 strategy addressed their security needs.
• They are invited to flag new or worsening threats, whether related to crime, extremism, economic activity or environmental pressures.
• Regional perspectives gathered will feed directly into the drafting process for the new national framework.

Mr Naayo urged participants not to treat the opportunity lightly, calling on them to offer meaningful suggestions that could make a tangible difference in how security is managed in their areas. With consultations continuing across all regions of the country, the NSCS faces the task of synthesising a wide range of views into a coherent national policy — one that Ghanaians will ultimately depend on to keep them safe through the rest of the decade.