Recruit polling agents from the communities- DCOP Timbillah

Tamale, Nov. 6, GNA - Mr Partrick Timbillah, Deputy Commissioner of Police and Director General of Operations, Ghana Police, has recommended to the Electoral Commission (EC) to as much as possible recruit polling agents for the December 7 elections from the local communities. He said this was to avoid the situation of people crying foul that "machomen" had been brought in to either disrupt the electoral process or intimidate voters, since the polling agents would be well known in the communities Mr Timbillah was addressing a joint police and military exercise codenamed "Exercise peace Angel" in Tamale on Thursday. The exercise is to harmonise and coordinate activities of the security services and prepare them in readiness to offer the necessary protection and the maintenance of law and order to enable people cast their votes peacefully on December 7, 2008. He said it was an offence to carry weapons to the polling stations on elections day and any one caught would be made to face the law. Mr Timbillah said the possession of arms was a criminal offence and urged the security services not to negotiate with such people but arrest them, adding that; "It is a criminal issue not politics". He urged the security personnel to be conversant with the laws governing the elections and always act professionally in the discharge of their duties.

The Deputy Commissioner of Police appealed for the support and cooperation of the Ghana Immigration Service (GIS) and the Customs, Excise and Preventive Service (CEPS) to intensify their patrol activities on the countries borders during the elections day to prevent aliens from coming into the country to vote. He announced that the security services had identified over 1,339 flash-points nationwide and said adequate measures had been put in place in those areas to handle any emergencies. Mr Timbillah also urged the media to be circumspect in their reportage since in their haste to be the first to report on certain issues, they may inadvertently be creating more tension and fuelling the grounds for more security problems.

Mr Bruce Ayisi, Deputy Director of the EC briefed the security services on the different stages involved in the electoral process and urged them to be vigilant to avoid any untoward situations. He explained that people without voter identity cards were not necessarily disenfranchised since they could be taken through the check list or the name reference list to verify if their names were in the register before they would be allowed to vote. He urged the security services to report on time to carry the electoral material to the various polling stations to ensure early voting and also ensure that people who cast their votes leave the polling station.

Mr Ayisi further entreated the security personnel not to interfere in the election process unless they were called upon to arrest offenders.