The acting Inspector General of Police (IGP), Mr John Kudalor, has warned vigilante groups within political parties to disarm themselves from posing as security bodies.
“The proliferation of the formation of unauthorised private security bodies of armed youth who try to take the law into their hands cannot be allowed to continue as they do not feature in our scheme of providing security to citizens and residents in Ghana,” he reiterated.
The IGP sounded these warnings at the inauguration and activation of the National Election Security Taskforce for the upcoming presidential and parliamentary elections slated for November 7 this year.
According to him, the primary role of security agencies in elections is to plan and ensure security before, during and after elections, hence the need to commence work.
Customarily, he noted that the taskforce will serve as the frontline for elections intelligence collection, analysis and exploitation of information in support of law enforcement for national security.
Mr Kudalor hinted that the taskforce would be replicated in all regions across the country to ensure effective co-ordination.
He pointed out that to help deal with all election security issues in a well co-ordinated manner, the National, Regional and District Election Taskforces shall have seven sub-committees.
The committees are Joint Operation Centre, Media and Communication, Personnel Mobilization and Ballot Security.
The rest are Finance and Budget, Intelligence, Legal and Prosecution, and Transport and Logistics.
Reiterating the importance of the election taskforce, Mr Mark Woyongo, the outgoing Minister for the Interior, stated that the taskforce is needed to help set systems and structures and also develop strategies for another free, fair and peaceful election.
Per his stance, though elections are associated with numerous security challenges, Ghana has been able to hold six successful general elections since 1992.
The Deputy Chair of the Electoral Commission, Mr Amadu Sulley, held that the EC is looking critically at the recommendations coming before it.
According to him, the recommendations are structural and administrative, and these would be looked at per the dictates of the laid down statues.
“I assure the general public that the EC will stick to the underpinning electoral principles of transparency, timeliness, fairness, among others, to ensure that the electoral process is not marred,” he added.
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