Kumasi, Sept 7, GNA- The Ministry of Manpower, Youth and Employment has within the past seven months trained about 3,000 community protection personnel, under the National Youth Employment Programme (NYEP) to augment the efforts of the Ghana Police Service to combat crime in the country.
Nana Akomea, the Sector Minister, who announced this, explained that apart from being provided with decent employment, the personnel would offer personal security, safety and dignity to residents in their communities.
He was speaking at the graduation and passing-out parade of the third batch of the personnel trained under the Community Protection Unit (CPU) in Kumasi on Friday.
In all, 1,034 graduands from the Ashanti and Brong-Ahafo Regions were given four-week intensive training in criminal code and law, duties of a security guard, crime scene management, law of evidence and environmental human rights at the Police Training Depot in Kumasi. Nana Akomeah described as "unfortunate and political talk" the assertion by the National Democratic Congress that the government had recruited, trained and armed the personnel with guns and ammunitions for the purpose of rigging the 2008 General Elections. He stated that the New Patriotic Party won the 2000 and 2004 General Elections when the CPU was not in existence and wondered why the Party would need the Unit before it could win the 2008 elections. Nana Akomeah said "Indeed if the CPU would win elections, then it would be because of the protection they would offer to thousands of Ghanaians of all political shades and the offer of thousands of jobs to our youth who would otherwise not be employed." He observed that the Ghana Police Service is limited in personnel, logistics and other training facilities to effectively combat the increased crime wave in the country hence the evolvement of the community protection concept.
Nana Akomea said the CPU, which was originally conceived under the NYEP as a source of employment, is currently under the operational management, control and command of the Community Policing Department of the Police Service.
The Minister said the Police Service had developed appropriate guidelines governing the recruitment and operations of the CPU, which had now been turned to the Police Support Unit."
