The Inspector General of Police (IGP), Dr. George Akuffo Dampare, and members of the Police Management Board (POMAB) have assured an ECOWAS Network of Electoral Commissions (ECONEC) post-election follow-up team that the police would play its role to ensure free and fair elections.
ECONEC is the umbrella body of West African Election Management Bodies (EMBs).
The team, which is on a four-day post-election mission to Ghana, is led by the chairmen of the electoral management bodies of Nigeria and Niger and also includes the ECONEC Permanent Secretary and a technical team from the Permanent Secretariat.
Since its arrival in Ghana on July 10, 2023, the team has been assessing the level of implementation of the recommendations made by the ECOWAS and AU Electoral Observation Missions (EOMs) which observed the December 2020 general election in Ghana.
It had earlier held working sessions with various stakeholders of the electoral process, including the Electoral Commission (EC), the Inter-Party Advisory Committee (IPAC), civil society organizations (CSOs), the Ghana Journalists Association, and international partners.
Yesterday, the team met the leadership of the Ghana Police Service, which is a major stakeholder in the country’s electoral process.
After the meeting, the team toured the police headquarters as Dr. Dampare briefed them on the operations of the Ghana Police Service and how the police were poised to serve the people.
The IGP informed the team about the measures put in place as far as election security was concerned to ensure a peaceful process in the upcoming 2024 presidential and parliamentary elections and other elections such as internal political party elections and elections in schools.
He said the Police Administration had established the Police Election Security Secretariat Unit to take care of election processes and election-related issues.
Until the establishment of the unit, he said the National Election Security Task Force only came together to do ad hoc preparation when national elections were approaching, but it was realized the approach was not helping.
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Also, he said, the Police Administration continued to engage the EC, all the political parties, and the leadership of Students’ Representative Councils (SRCs) in the various universities to support the holding of internal political party elections and student leadership elections.
Dr. Dampare mentioned that the two main political parties in Ghana, the New Patriotic Party (NPP) and the National Democratic Congress (NDC), had written to commend the police for the impressive security arrangements.
Source: graphic online
