Act professionally during December elections - police told

Winneba (C/R), Aug. 20, GNA - The Commanding Officer of the Regional Police Training School at Winneba, ASP Samuel Asiedu Okanta has advised police personnel, particularly those who would be assigned to cover the next December general elections to ensure that their conduct did not offend the electorate.

ASP Okanta was speaking at a forum organised by the Effutu Municipal/Awutu-Senya District Office of the National Commission for Civic Education (NCCE) to educate people in the two administrative set ups on electoral laws and regulations. The were also sensitised on the importance of the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS), by the Public Relations Officer of the Effutu Municipal and Awutu-Senya District Scheme, Mr Joseph Yaw Owusu-Kwarten. ASP Okanta reminded police personnel across the country that the role they were expected to play before, during and after the pending general elections, was to ensure that the exercise was conducted in a peaceful, transparent and lawful manner devoid of threats and intimidation.

He expressed the optimism that police personnel who would be deplored to assist in the coming elections would live above reproach in order to carve an excellent image for themselves and the police service as a whole, stressing that they should do everything possible in their individual and collective capacity as accredited security personnel to avoid putting up undesirable conducts that might offend the electorates at their respective polling stations. ASP Okanta further reminded the police of the crucial nature of the coming elections to Ghanaians and the international community and urged them to act professionally, lawfully and officially in all that they would do during and after the elections.

He said where genuine electoral offence is reported to any security officer on duty at any polling station such officer should strive to act cautiously in dealing with the electorate perceived to have committed the offence in order not to disrupt the orderly and smooth process of the elections at the particular polling centre. He said it would be wrong for security personnel manning poling stations to leave their post and for that matter, the polling booths at their poling cantres to give a chase to the offender or offenders with the view of apprehending them, because anything could happen when such situations occured.

Mr. Raymond K. Tsotorme, Municipal Director of the NCCE had earlier taken participants through various aspects of the electoral laws, procedures and regulations and counselled Ghanaians to learn to tolerate divergent political views to avoid unnecessary rivalries before, during and after the coming December seven elections.

Mr Tsotrme charged the police to be firm and fair in all their dealings at this crucial election year, since all eyes are on them for credible elections that would promote Ghana's democracy. The Municipal NCCE boss was emphatic that any act of unprofessional and bias behaviour on the part of the police between now and January, 2009 as far as the coming national elections were concerned, might trigger off serious socio-political challenges for the nation, adding, "we must try as much possible to avoid such misunderstanding. He suggested to Divisional, Municipal and District Police Commanders throughout the country to hold regular meeting with the executives of various political parties, especially the leading political groups in their respective areas of jurisdiction, to enable them to prepare adequately for the elections.

Mr Owusu-Kwarteng took the recruits and police officers at the school through rudiments of the NHIS and advised them to embrace the policy to enhance their health at an affordable rate. He announced the numerous benefits they stand to gain when they register with the Scheme, adding that, they were entitled to healthcare when they fell sick whether their parents registered with the Scheme or not. He reminded participants of the free delivery and post-natal health care for pregnant women and their babies throughout the country and advised officers at the school whose spouses were expecting babies to register them for the free health care. 21 Aug. 08 Attention recipients: Item 16 ends our third transmission