We’ll deal with persons that will foment violence – IGP warns
The Inspector General of Police (IGP), Mr James Oppong-Boanuh has cautioned that the Ghana Police Service would deal with persons that intend to perpetrate any violence during the December polls to jeopardize the peace of the country.
The IGP said the Police would not condone any misconduct from political party faithful before, during and after the elections as perpetrators would be arrested and prosecuted accordingly irrespective of their political affiliations.
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In an interview with the Daily Graphic during his one day working visit to Koforidua Wednesday, he warned that persons going to the polling station should act within the confines of the electoral laws and do not been seen in possession of any offensive weapons.
He said caution would be backed by ruthless actions as has been seen during the voter registration exercise which has seen some political actors including Members of Parliament (MP) and party faithful investigated and prosecuted.
He explained that his working visit was to assess the operational readiness of the Police in the Eastern Region in anticipation of a keenly contested general election.
Flash points
The IGP said the Police Operations have earmarked various flashpoints across the country going into the general election and would act accordingly to avert any violence during, before and after the December polls.
He expressed that the Police would not be complacent in the discharge of its duty but would remain resolute in its operations at all polling stations and collation centre to protect the sanctity of the election and any impending violence without fail.
He added that, service personnel that would be deployed at various polling stations and collation centres would be given special armlet to make for easy identification to the eligible and the public at large. However, he said the for the sake of prevention of duplicates from unscrupulous persons the police would not unveil the armlet until the day of the election.
Appeal
The IGP appealed to police officers in the region to remain very professional in the discharge of their duty during the election period. He urged them to remain very neutral and not bias towards any political party as demanded by the constitution.
He called on the youth to be wary of politicians that would contract them to foment violence during the period of the election. He urged them not to prioritise the parochial interest of any politicians above the peace of the country.
He also assured that the Ghana Police Service would do its best in collaboration with other security services across the country to make sure that the peace of the country was preserved after the general election
