By: Haja Hawa Koroma
The National Security Coordinator Abdulai Caulker, of the Office of National Security and his team are consistently ensuring coordinated efforts of all security sector players to remain a priority in the day-to-day running of the ONS.
According to him, there are several security sector players in Sierra Leone, the military, police, private security agencies and others. Therefore, it is the constitutional mandate of the ONS to coordinate the efforts of all of these different security sector players and to ensure that there is a smooth operation in terms of controlling, responding or managing situations that can be described as national emergencies or national threats.
Mr. Abdulai Caulker believes that since the civil war ended in 2002, the security landscape in Sierra Leone has evolved dramatically with considerable progress in structural reforms and service delivery.
He also believes that there has been a paradigm shift from state-centric to human security and the current security arrangement requires core security sector institutions and government Ministries, Departments and Agencies to work together and complement one another in pursuing collective security and progress.
Furthermore, the ONS is positioned to play a critical role in coordinating these efforts as enacted in the National Security & Central Intelligence Act of 2002.
In addition to this, the ONS has made efforts to promote the culture and practice of security across the government, thereby linking security strategy and development efforts.
The ONS also supports His Excellency the President and the Chairman of the National Security Council by offering the highest quality advice and driving efforts to ensure decisions are implemented professionally.
Mr Caulker mentioned that the ONS has been coordinating the Early Warning and Early Response mechanism to prepare and respond effectively to threats and hazards that lay a negative impact on Sierra Leone’s national security like public order and social issues, corruption, organized crime, economic security, health and environmental issues, terrorism and external threats.
