By: Mohamed Sahr mohamedsahrpro@gmail.com
Liaison Officer of Multinational Maritime Coordinating Centre ‘Zone F’ appraised journalists of the transnational maritime security crimes incurred despite the blessings endowed within the zone during a visit made my media experts as part of the Maritime Security Reporting Course in Accra, Ghana funded by the Danish Government.
Flight Lieutenant Eyram Kwami, Liaison Officer of Multinational Maritime Coordinating Centre Zone F said the area which spammed from the Eastern Maritime boarder of Ghana to the West Maritime boarder of Guinea served as a transit point for goods from Americans, Europe and the Southern Africa; adding that it provided lots of fishing activities for the coastal nations within the six countries in the ‘Zone F’ region namely Guinea, Liberia, Sierra Leone, Ghana, Cote D’Ivoire and Burkina Faso as one of the landlocked countries in the Gulf of Guinea.
Lieutenant Kwami added that despite the endowments within the ‘Zone F’ region, the area claimed with transnational maritime security crimes such as drugs trafficking, piracy, Oil bunkering and Illegal, Unreported and Unregulated Fishing (IUU Fishing) to list but a few.
‘’Due to the threats of the area, it necessitated the formation of the Multinational Maritime Coordinating Centre ‘Zone F’ under the Yaoundé Code of Conduct of 2013,’’ Flight Lieutenant Kwami said.
He stated that the MMCC ‘Zone F’ began due to the signing of the multilateral agreement between Ghana, Sierra Leone, Guinea, Cote d’Ivoire, Liberia and Burkina Faso as a landlocked country in July 2016. Lieutenant Kwami said the agreement provided a framework for the six states as well provided logistics for the running of the centre. He furthered that the headquarter agreement also provided a framework for Ghana to serve as the host nation that which was set up in 2019 with the help of the Ghana Navy, maritime securities and International partners in conformity of the ECOWAS Commission.
Mr. Kwami mentioned that the operational activity of the centre was guided by their mandate to ensure effective maritime domain and awareness and coordination across the maritime space to enhance law enforcement for the safety of marines at sea, vessels and the marine environments. ‘’Our activities include monitoring and tracking of vessels and maritime incidents within our areas of responsibility,’’ Flight Lieutenant Kwami said.
He alluded that the centre also focused on analyzing data and presented statistics between member states ranging from monthly, quarterly and annually. He noted that they dealt with proper communication system; address feedback and sharing of sensitive information via synchronized system as well as the use of social media for information that seemed to be common among maritime stakeholders as designed by Yaoundé Architecture.
