A Fraud and Security consultant, Richard Kumadoe, has said the involvement of celebrities in the “see something, say something” campaign is likely to mar the efforts of the government in averting terrorist activities in Ghana.
Speaking in an interview on Angel FM, Mr Kumadoe who has 30 years of experience in the field said there was no need to engage the celebrities including media personalities in the campaign.
It would be recalled that during the launch of the campaign on May 24, 2022, the National Security also presented personalities from the media, entertainment industry and the clergy to lead the anti-terrorism movement.
They included Nana Aba Anamoah, Kwame Sefa Kayi, Dzifa Bampoe, Kofi Kinataa, Gifty Adorye (Empress Gifty) and Reverend Dr Lawrence Tetteh.
These personalities are to augment government’s efforts at sensitizing the general public on the threats of terrorism to reduce the potential attacks and other related activities in the country.
Mr Kumadoe nonetheless believes they could be a source of problems for the course.
“I think that approach [inclusion celebrities] is creating a bit of a problem. It is a very wrong approach” the former agent of the National Intelligence Bureau (NIB) maintained.
Explaining his stance, he said “If you are embarking on such campaigns or education and the media loses interest it would end up like ‘galamstop’ because the media is huge and the media carries the people.
“So if you are not careful to sustain the pressure and the momentum and the media loses the interest, that means the national security has lost a chunk of the people and nobody will speak to you and you will get a problem.”
Mr Kumadoe thus cautioned the government to keep drumming home the educational element, without which the fight can fail.
“If we do not maintain the position of education–instead of educating–we would be creating fear and panic,” he added in the interview with Kofi Adoma Nwanwani on June 9, 2022.
