The Inspector-General of Police(IGP), Dr George Akuffo Dampare, has assured the Commonwealth Observer Group and the electorate that adequate security measures have been put in place for peaceful elections on Saturday December 7.

He further pledged that security agencies to be deployed on election day, will be fair, firm and professional in discharging their duties to ensure smooth elections.

Dr Dampare stated this when a 17-member delegation from the Commonwealth Observer Group met the National Election Security Taskforce at its Press Centre on Monday, December 2, 2024.

Led by its Chairman and former President of Botswana, Mokgweetsi Masisi, the delegation sought to find out the preparedness of the National Election Security Taskforce to deal with election related security matters.

Assurance

The IGP assured the delegation that the National Security Taskforce is doing everything in its power to ensure that no single voter is confused about the electoral processes and the security arrangements to ensure free, fair and transparent elections.

“Our assurance is clear. The security agencies under the United Nations Security Council is ready. I know the good people of this country is equally ready” he stated.

Dr Dampare equally assured political parties and their respective candidates that the police will be “fair, professional and consistent” in discharging their duties.

He said the aim of the security agencies is to get the job done in terms of maintaining adequate security, law and order.

On behalf of the Commonwealth Observer Group, an Honorary Professor at the College of Law of the Australian National University, Matthew Neuhaus, said Ghana has a good democratic record and the security agencies have a good record too which he said will combine effectively to ensure free and fair elections on December 7.

Response

Responding to questions by some members of the Observer Group, the Director-General in charge of Administration of the Ghana Police Service, Commissioner of Police(COP), Paul Awini, explained that the security situation in the country is calm. 

He revealed that the police have a de-escalating strategy where dialogue with parties in a conflict situation for instance is introduced to reduce political tension.

“As an institution and as a task force, we regularly undertake threat assessments in the country. This threat assessment is a very comprehensive one covering the entire country. We take five major threat categories into consideration when we do these threat assessments, including armed conflicts, terrorism, civil unrest and crime” he stated.

He said the police have been using a tool to combat crime which is based on the United Nations Structured Threat Assessment Tool.

“That is what we've been using since. It's an international tool that we're using. And from the beginning of the year all the way through to this very time, we are still around level two.

Which means that the security situation in the country is relatively predictable. Yes, level two simply means that it is calm and predictable. In fact, it ranges from level one to level six” COP Awini further assured the delegation.

Hotspots 

On the question of what arrangements have been put in place to deal with violence at hotspots in the country, the Director-General said there were 40,647 polling stations out of which a number of them are considered hotspots. 

He was however quick to say that the National Election Security Taskforce will later brief the stakeholders on the number of hotspots in this year's elections.

“The situation is under control. The plans we have put in place will be made to work. Because we are not only depending on ourselves, the National Election Security Task Force.

We are working with the public and carrying well-meaning members of the public along with us. And we believe that there is nothing that we cannot handle. We can handle every situation that comes up” COP Awini stressed.

On detecting and deterrence of election offences, the Director-General pointed out that 

“we have, as part of the strategic plan security at all the polling stations. And the officers who have been deployed at the polling stations, they are not armed. We also have a zero-tolerance for firearms at the polling stations.”

COP Awini observed that Zero-tolerance for firearms as part of the strategic plan meant that officers use their bare hands, and the only weapon they have is their awareness of violence. “In terms of Engagement and de-escalation mindset, they have all been trained for that” he added.

He revealed that the technical committee of the National Election Security Task Force will be at the Press Centre to engage the press “moment-by-moment, to clarify issues. Any disinformation that comes up, any misinformation, they will be here, right here, minute-by-minute, to clarify the situation".

“We will not allow some few miscreants to use the media space, and cause a lot of problems through disinformation” COP Awini warned.

 Briefing

The Deputy Commissioner of Police(DCOP), Frederick Agyei earlier briefed the delegation on the Master Strategic Plan of the police administration for pre and post election periods which has been tried and tested to work to perfection.

Private Security

The IGP later met with the Ghana Private Security Association to ensure that the association carries out activities in a manner that will not affect the security arrangement that the Ghana Police Service has put in place for the elections.

The President of the Association, Mr Ibrahim Abdul Rahman Usunaba, on behalf of the group thanked the IGP for inviting them to discuss issues pertaining to ensuring peaceful elections.

“We want to assure the public that we will always go by what the election task force and the police administration has targetted to do because we are working under a regulation. And for that matter, we are going to comply with all the directives” Mr Usunaba further assured.