Research_Proposal

Research Proposal:-

‘

What Roles Do Non-State Actors Play in the Provision of Security in Ghana?

’.

Research Aim

In

a

lot

of

developing

countries,

including

Ghana,

due

to

inability

or

unwillingness,

formal

state

security

systems

are

unable

to

meet

the

security

needs

of

a

majority

of

citizens, particularly the poor. Consequently, a lot of these poor people depend on non-

state actors for their security needs, with both positive and negative effects. The aim of

this study is therefore to investigate the role that non-state actors play in the provision of

security

in

Ghana,

and

thus

help

contribute

to

thinking

on

security

provision

in

the

country.

Background

Security is an important condition for development, and states have traditionally provided

it to citizens. However, an increasing phenomenon is the provision of security functions

by private actors to states, private organizations and individuals. Security privatisation is,

however, not a new phenomenon; it dates back to the early Greek, and Roman armies.

1

Contemporary

private

security

has

two

broad

forms,

one

formalized

and

consisting

of

individuals

and

organizations

structured

along

corporate

lines

and

providing

services

independent

of

the

state.

2

The

second

form

consists

of

non- state

actors

who

provide

security, usually to the poor and marginalized in developing countries who are unable to

procure

the

services

of

commercial

security.

They

include

individual

security

provisioning, neighborhood watch committees and vigilantes among others.

The state- non-state taxonomy is preferred to the formal-informal taxonomy common in

discourses on private security. This is because some non-state security arrangements are

quite formal in organization; they are not ad hoc in character.

3

Much of the literature on

security

privatization

in

Africa

has

tended

to

focus

on

the

activities

of

private

military

and commercial private security companies, with little on the non-commercial, non- state

1

2

Holmqvist (2005)

Gumedze (2007)

3

Ibeanu and Momoh (2008)

1

private

actors.

Yet,

in

many

developing

countries,

these

systems

are

the

primary

providers of justice and security to the poor.

The

existence

of

numerous

non-state

security

and

justice

systems

in

most

of

the

developing

world

suggests that formal systems

are inaccessible to

majority of ordinary

people,

or

where

they

are

accessible,

they

are

not

effective

at

delivering

security

and

justice

for

various

reasons.

Some

reasons

attributed

to

the

increasing

use

of

private

security, include the impact of globalization and the inability or unwillingness of some of

these states, to provide security as a public good. In the broadest sense, security in much

of Africa is about protection against local crime and of personal security, protection of

land

and

property,

access

to

justice

and

resolution

of

community

disputes

4

.

In

many

developing countries however, the lack of effective public security, and the use of private

commercial

security

by

those

who

can

afford

it,

means

that

crime

and

insecurity

invariably shift to poor locales. Also, most of the public and private security institutions

in

the

developing

world

are

urban

focused,

whilst

a

majority

of

the

poor

live

in

rural

areas

and

are

thus

excluded

from

the

benefits

of

policing.

Thus,

poor

people

tend

to

gravitate toward non-state systems

of security

and justice

because they

find the formal

systems expensive, slow and difficult to access, with police and prosecutors often biased

towards

powerful

elite

interests.

They

are

thus

forced

to

depend

on

community

based

arrangements informal and non-state security systems that usually do not have any links

to

the

state.

Where

links

exist,

they

have

been

state- sponsored

arrangements

like

the

Hisbah

in

Kano.

5

Overall,

state

actors

tend

to

be

more

hostile

to

informal

security

systems than they are to informal justice systems, perceiving the former as undermining

the monopoly of the use of force by the state.

Poor

people,

particularly

in

urban

locales,

often

live

on

the

margins

of

‘illegality’

in

society

in

terms

of

illegal

acquisition

of

housing,

non-payment

of

taxation,

etc.

Consequently, they are unable or unwilling to approach formal state institutions to seek

security and justice to avoid drawing attention to themselves. They therefore tend to rely

4

DFID (2004)

5

Ibeanu & Momoh (2008)

2

on

informal

systems.

In

Alexandria,

Egypt

for

instance,

about

68%

of

the

city’s

population live in squatter settlements built informally in violation of building regulations.

This makes squatters vulnerable to police action and exploitation.

6

Yet, whether living in

‘illegality’ or not, these people have security and justice needs

too, and would thus resort

to

systems that, though

not

formally

recognized, provide these services.

These systems

however are not all without their own flaws, they are sometimes plagued by local power

imbalances,

and

when

this

is

the

case,

some

poor

people

do

not

seek

redress

there,

resulting in disputes sometimes escalating into violence.

7

There is therefore the need to

examine

the

impacts

of

these

other

systems

on

security,

justice

and

socio-economic

development, especially in the developing world.

Case Study

Ghana is a relatively peaceful country in a turbulent West African sub-region. In recent

years however, there has been an increase in the activities of non-state security groups,

due

in

part

to

ineffectiveness

of

the

formal

state

system,

especially

the

police,

and

an

increasing crime rate. This has led ordinary people to seek justice and security from non-

state

actors.

Whilst

the

wealthy

are

able

to

afford

the

services

of

commercial

private

security companies, the poor and marginalized who form a majority of the population, are

forced to seek security outside these systems. This has an effect on poverty, inequality

and the socio- economic development of these communities. These alternative systems are

largely recognized as legitimate actors in these communities, even if they do not always

provide equitable access or demonstrate respect for the rights of all community members.

This has led to two parallel security systems operating under the facade of a collective

governance

arrangement

–

the

state

system,

which

largely

caters

to

the

needs

and

interests

of

the

elite

and

its

network

of

cronies;

and

an

informal

sector,

where

those

without

access

to

the

state

structures

retreat.

There

is

thus

the

need

for

a

closer

examination

of

this

development,

instead

of

relegating

much

of

these

activities

(particularly those dealing with security and safety) to the realm of criminality.

6

Anderson (2003)

7

World Bank (2004)

3