Political parties must abide by code of conduct-Participants

Ho, June 02, GNA - Participants at a day's forum in Ho on Thursday urged political parties to abide by the political parties code of conduct. They said non-adherence to the code of conduct was the cause of lawlessness, political agitations, defamation and general disorder in the country.

The forum which was on the 93Role of state security agencies in Ghan= a's democratic process" was organized by the National Commission on Civic Education (NCCE) as part of activities marking this year's Constitution Week. The participants said the political code of conduct was to moderate and ensure serene environment for political activities and appealed to the Electoral Commission to ensure its compliance. Mr Harrison Kofi Belley, Volta Regional Director of NCCE, said his outfit had consistently organized workshops for the Inter Party Advisory Committee (IPAC) to ensure adherence to the code of conduct and wondered wh= y the non-adherence. Mr Samuel Owusu-Berko, Ho Municipal Police Commander, said it was time security agencies adopted more robust measures to deal with the increasing lawlessness in the country.

"We have no other alternative than to act decisively in accordance wi= th the dictates of the rule of law and public order regulations," he said. Mr Owusu-Berko said no person is above the law and that Police must desist from 93deferential" treatment in its law enforcement practice. He said though security agencies had done so much, they must collaborate more to perform beyond their traditional duties. Mr Owusu-Berko said though security agencies had infrastructural and logistical challenges, undue political pressure in the decision making process was a major problem to the agencies.

During an open forum, Monsignor Anthony Kornu , Vicar General of the Ho Diocese of the Catholic Church, said it was unfortunate that governments in power turned blind eyes to alleged lawlessness for fear of losing votes. He appealed to security agencies to be vigilant on supposed keep-fit clubs that do emerge during election periods because most of such clubs wer= e used by people with partisan political motives to misbehave. Mr Taylor Tarku, an Officer of the National Disaster Management Organization (NADMO) decried the politicization of security agencies and urged the agencies to be neutral in their activities to win the trust of all.

Mr Maxwell Gbaka, a Deputy Director at the Ghana Education Service Regional Office urged the media to be circumspect to ensure national security. Mr Isaac Kodobisah, Ho Municipal Chief Executive, said issues of insecurity must not be laid at the doorstep of only the security agencies and government but every Ghanaian.