Ghanaian Times: Keeping close eye on hotspots ahead of December 7 elections

The Ghana Police Service recently announced that they had identified a total of 4,098 hotspots across the country that needed to be watched closely in the run-up to the December 7, polls.

According to the police, the hotspots identified are areas where violence is likely to erupt during the election period. Although almost all the regions have flashpoints, Ashanti Region tops with 635 of them.

It is disturbing that there are so many hotspots across the country that are potential places for conflict and need special attention, including stationing of security personnel there.

Our worry is that the country already lacks the required security personnel to provide adequate security to all citizens and yet is going to be forced to stretch thin during the period in order to prevent disturbances across the nation.

This is going to be a daunting task which needs the total cooperation of all citizens in all parts of the country to be successful.

In our opinion, the security personnel to be deployed to the hotspots across the country need to be tough and proactive in dealing with persons who may want to cause disturbances in the country.

Already, the atmosphere is becoming tense due to the political campaigning, which has led to violent clashes in some parts of the country.

While we condemn the violent acts, especially that which occurred at Odododiodoo in the Greater Accra Region, we appeal to the security personnel to increase their presence in the hotspot communities and also to be stern and not let their guards down.

That is the only way we believe we can stop the rowdiness and the violence in the communities during the electioneering period.

Fortunately, the security agencies know all the flashpoints around the country and with good intelligence and information, it should not be difficult for them to contain any situation.

It is our prayer that there should be no violent clashes anywhere in the country but if there should be any, the security network should be able to handle it to avoid any bloodshed.

We are aware that the police, for example, are preparing fervently to provide security during the election period and the least the public can do to support them is to be law-abiding and to avoid violent clashes during the period.

We appeal particularly to the political class, who are fond of hiring the youth to attack each other, to desist from such unpatriotic acts which threaten the peace of the country.

We urge the citizenry to understand that democracy is a contest of ideas and not war. In fact, there is no place for violence in politics. We should all reject violence so that we can go through the electoral process successfully and be proud we did.