Vice President Professor Jane Naana Opoku-Agyemang has called for intensified public education on law enforcement to strengthen public trust and voluntary compliance with the law.

She said greater public understanding of the mandates of security agencies, the purpose of laws and the consequences of violating them was essential for effective governance and national development.

The Vice President made the call on Monday during a working visit to the Ministry for the Interior to review its achievements, challenges and Government priorities.

The meeting was attended by the Deputy Minister for the Interior, heads of the security agencies and representatives of the National Peace Council, the National Commission on Small Arms and Light Weapons, the National Identification Authority, the Gaming Commission and other agencies under the Ministry.

Prof Opoku-Agyemang said public education was critical to the successful implementation of laws and public policies, particularly for citizens who were not directly involved in decision-making.

She also stressed the need to sustain public confidence in the security services by ensuring that personnel remained approachable, professional and transparent.

“One of the major issues, I think, has to do with public trust. The public must have faith in us. They must have so much faith in us that they want to collaborate with us because they believe in what we are doing. In the end, it is about their own safety,” she said.

The Vice President described security as the foundation of national development and called for greater investment in equipment maintenance and the training of technicians to ensure the efficient use and longevity of public assets.

Earlier, Alhaji Muntaka Mohammed-Mubarak, Minister of Interior, briefed the Vice President on the Ministry’s recent achievements.

He said Parliament had passed the Security and Intelligence Agencies Bill and the Community Service Bill, while parole regulations before Parliament were expected to help decongest prisons and strengthen inmate rehabilitation.

The Minister said 18 services under the Ministry, including immigration and private security registration, had been digitalised.

He said the newly introduced electronic visa system had received nearly 1,500 applications from 78 countries within its first month of operation.

Mr Mohammed-Mubarak said the Ministry had strengthened the operational capacity of the Police, Prisons, Fire, Immigration and Narcotics Control services through the acquisition of vehicles and specialised equipment.

He said anti-narcotics efforts had been reinforced through the establishment of a dedicated narcotics court, the granting of prosecutorial powers to the Narcotics Control Commission and public education campaigns that reached nearly half a million students in 2025.

On illicit arms, the Minister said an amnesty programme and law enforcement operations had led to the surrender and seizure of more than 4,000 firearms, some of which were destroyed publicly last week.

He acknowledged that resource constraints remained a challenge but reaffirmed the Ministry’s commitment to strengthening Ghana’s internal security architecture to promote peace, stability and national development.