BA REGSEC BANS STREET PROCESSION BY PARTIES (PAGE 14)

THE Brong Ahafo Regional Security Council (REGSEC) has announced the banning of street processions by political parties in the Berekum municipality with immediate effect.
The decision of the council followed the violent clash between supporters of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) and the National Democratic Congress (NDC) in Berekum on Sunday, September 21, 2008.
A letter signed by the Regional Co-ordinating Director (RCD), Mr F.O. Boateng, on behalf of the Regional Minister, Mr Ignatius Baffour-Awuah, and issued in Sunyani on Thursday said following the clash between the two parties, the REGSEC, chaired by the regional minister, had met the following day to discuss the issue and take measures to stop such acts in the run-up to this year’s presidential and parliamentary elections in December.
The letter, which was addressed to the municipal chief executive (MCE) for Berekum, with copies to the regional police commander, all the political parties, as well as the media, stressed that “the REGSEC had decided to ban street processions before and after political rallies in the municipality with immediate effect”.
The letter also directed the Municipal Security Committee to inform political party executives in the area accordingly and again urged the security agencies to strictly enforce the ban.
In a related development, the Brong Ahafo Regional Police Commander, Assistant Commissioner of Police (ACP) Seth Charles Oteng, has directed that all the district police commands in the region form election security task forces.
He said the membership of the task forces should include representatives of the security agencies, namely, the military, the Fire Service, the Immigration Service, the Customs, Exercise and Preventive Service and the Prisons Services.
Addressing a meeting of senior police officers in the region in Sunyani, ACP Oteng disclosed that already the regional police command had formed its task force, charged with the responsibility of educating the various political parties on the Public Order Act, among other duties.
He charged the officers to embark on intensive patrols before, during and after the elections, adding that they should also provide adequate security for the electoral officers, as well as all materials earmarked for the elections.
ACP Oteng urged the officers to ensure that their junior officers behaved themselves at all times in accordance with the rules and regulations of the Ghana Police Service and cautioned that any officer who failed in that direction would first face sanctions.
The Regional Police Commander again urged the officers to submit reports on activities in their various jurisdictions for action by the regional headquarters or the national headquarters.