Source: newsthemegh.com
At the National Police Headquarters in Accra yesterday afternoon, the police met with the leaders of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) and the National Democratic Congress (NDC).
The parties’ press releases and subsequent petitions to the Police Service, in which each party requested the Police to detain specific members of the other side for various purported crimes, were the catalysts for the meeting that the Inspector-General of Police summoned.
All parties had a chance to express their complaints at the meeting. Their main concern centered on remarks made by some political figures on both sides of the aisle that were deemed to be offensive.
The Police also gave them a briefing on two tactical measures the Police Administration had put in place to deal with situations involving elections and politics as part of their transformation program.
During the recent internal elections of both parties, the police used the chance to deliver an update on the situation of political violence and related incidents, including;
the detention and prosecution of around 14 NPP members for causing disruptions at their Enchi constituency election, as well as the detention of nine out of sixteen people wanted for causing disturbances at the NDC’s national youth and women organizer polls in Cape Coast.
A progress update on cases involving the 2020 general election, including Techiman South and Odododiodio seats, was also given. The public will receive proper updates on these matters over the course of the coming week.
The creation of the Police Election Security Secretariat to collaborate with all political parties and other stakeholders to improve the management of security for all national elections was the first strategic intervention that was disclosed to them.
This is a complete change from the previous procedure, in which a task force for election security was formed only a few months before the general elections.
The Police Election Security Secretariat has collaborated with the various political parties in their respective internal elections since its formation more than a year ago, from the polling place through the constituency to the national executive elections.
Both parties and the Secretariat are now collaborating on their legislative and presidential primaries.
The establishment of a dedicated legal team is the second intervention, and it will examine all politically related situations legally to determine whether or not they contain elements of criminality before any police action is taken. Hence, the Police won’t become involved in any circumstance where there isn’t any crime going on.
This represents a paradigm shift from the previous practice, whereby individuals were detained for politically motivated offenses in the heat of the moment as a result of politicians on both sides trying to incite public hostility toward the police and give the impression that the police are biased in favor of one side or the other. When there are no viable charges that can be brought against such individuals, they are finally released, giving the public the appearance that the police were somehow coerced into making the arrests.
All recent incidents, including remarks made by the Hon. Minister of Food and Agriculture and the Constituency Youth Organiser for the NDC in Suame, among others, have been examined using this effort.
Both parties were asked to conduct their politics and let the police handle the policing while these policing interventions were in place during the meeting. Hence, we urged them to help us, including by offering constructive criticism, so that we could carry out our constitutionally mandated duties in a professional manner.
The Police applauded the leaders of the two political parties for their participation and contribution to the meeting’s success and appealed to Ghanaians to support their efforts to establish an independent Police force that would serve the interests of the Ghanaian people as a whole rather than those of any one person or group of people.
The police reaffirm their commitment to maintaining the nation’s peace, security, law, and order at all times, including before, during, and after every election.