PARLIAMENTARY COMMITTEE ASSURES POLICE (PAGE 16)

THE Parliamentary Select Committee on Defence and Interior has given the assurance that it will ensure that the Ghana Police Service is provided with the needed logistical and infrastructural support, especially residential and office accommodation that will spur them on to deliver efficient and effective policing in the country.
The committee recognised that the police were working under stressful conditions, and, therefore, it was important that their welfare was catered for to enable them to discharge their duties conscientiously and without any hindrances.
“Your welfare is the concern of the committee, and it is of paramount importance to members. We understand your work very well, and so we will do our best to ensure that the challenges that you face are addressed to the barest minimum” the committee assured.
Alhaji Abukari Samani, the Member of Parliament (MP) for Tamale North, who is also a Ranking Member of Defence and the Interior of the committee, gave the assurance in Sunyani in the Brong Ahafo Region noted that “your efforts at combating crime, even under difficult conditions, have been noticed and we commend you for that”.
Alhaji Samani, who was contributing to an interactive meeting between the Select Committee and a section of the Brong Ahafo Regional Police Command, however, urged the police not to be downhearted in the face of the challenges, but continue with their good work.
The 12-member delegation of the committee, led by its Chairman, Mr Eugene Atta Agyapong, the MP for Abetifi, was in the region for a two-day working visit.
Alhaji Samani’s comments came shortly after the Regional Police Commander, Assistant Commissioner of Police (ACP) Seth Charles Oteng, had briefed the committee members on the operations of the command, which he said, were characterised by numerous problems and challenges, including the abysmal number of personnel, inadequate residential and office accommodation, among other challenges.
Touching on the upcoming December 7, 2008 general election, Alhaji Samani pointed out that for Ghana to sustain its democratic dispensation, much depended on the police, and, therefore, called on the police to ensure that the elections were not only peaceful, but transparent.
He stressed that the police should not in any way interfere with the operations at the polling stations while the electorate cast their votes, adding that the police were only there to maintain law and order, while the people were left to decide on who they wanted to vote for.
According to the ranking member, it was not for nothing that the security agencies were usually made to exercise their franchise a day before the elections, so that on the D-day they would be absolutely free to ensure that the polls were conducted in a peaceful atmosphere.
Alhaji Samani pointed out that in the event that someone was ineligible to vote, the best option was to allow whoever was in disagreement to fill the appropriate form to state their claim for the Electoral Commission (EC) to decide later, explaining that no police officer had the right to obstruct anyone from exercising their franchise on the election day.
He declared, “It is criminal for any policeman or woman to deny someone the right to vote and to make their choice, and whoever comes out as the winner should have been the decision of the electorate and should be accepted by the contending parties as it has happened in the previous elections”.
When the MP for Sene, Mr Kwame Twumasi-Appiah, asked why the police were still not wearing their badges and name tags, the Regional Commander of Police explained that the National Headquarters was yet to provide them with those things.