Election 2020: We’re ready for trouble makers – IGP warns

The Inspector-General of Police (IGP) James Oppong Buanuh says security personnel deployed for Electoral duties on December 7 will be provided with special Identification armlets.

He said the unique identification armlet to be worn in addition to the uniforms will help fish out impersonators and also enable the public to properly identify personnel on duty.

“For those who will be specifically sent to the polling stations to perform duties, we will have a duty armlet and we are not unveiling it now because we don’t want any duplicate to be made. So you can be sure that when you get to the polling station every officer who is there whether he is from Police, whether he is from Immigration or any other security agency will have a duty armlet on one sleeve so that you can easily identify that person. So there will be Identification. The identification will certainly be different from what we used in 2016 so that nobody can use the old one,” the IGP stated.

The IGP said this Wednesday when addressing the media at the sidelines of a day visit Eastern Regional Police Command to assess the preparation of the command ahead of the elections.

The IGP explained that “the purpose of my visit is to assess the operational readiness of the police in the region. You and I know that on the 7th of December we are going to elect our President and our Parliamentarians and it is the primary responsibility of the Ghana police service assisted by the other security agencies to provide security for these elections.

“Therefore I’ve been going round throughout the country, region by region to look at how prepared the police officers in those regions are towards the election 2020 today is the turn of the eastern region that is why I’ve come to Koforidua”

According to the IGP, "I’ve been to see the Chiefs and I have appealed to them to always be talking to the youth in the communities not to allow themselves to be used to foment violence during the elections because if they do the long arm of the law will catch up with them.

He added "I’ve also assured them that we in the security services will do our best to ensure that there is peace on that day and that everybody who has to vote will vote without any hindrance, and the same time let me appeal to our men in uniform that on the day of election they should not be partisan, they should not be biased, we should be professional as possible, very impartial and do our duty the way the laws of Ghana expect us to do.

“Let me also take this opportunity to warn any trouble makers that on that day they should stay away from the polling stations nobody should come there with any implement or any weapons because if you do we are going to face you squarely.”

The IGP refuted claims that Police do not prosecute political offenders.

“During the registration, cases in which infractions were made, and there have been several of them that we have put before the court. Several of them We’ve prosecuted Members of Parliament, we have prosecuted party executives the records are there for everybody to see so if I say that we are going to deal with them it is not rhetoric”

The IGP inspected a parade, witnessed a simulation exercise on Electoral violence control, visited chiefs, and finally addressed, Commanders and other senior officers in the region before departing to Accra.