Accra, April 4, GNA – Mr. Kweku Ayensu Opare-Addo, Deputy Commissioner of Police, on Thursday assured political parties of fair and adequate security protection during their political campaigns. “The police will like to promise all political parties in Ghana that they will be given adequate protection so far as they respect the Public Order Act by alerting the Police Service five days before an event,” he said. “There are two different kinds of security strategies offered by the Police Service, namely minor and major security and any of these would be granted depending on the nature of a programme,” Mr. Opare-Addo, who is the Grater Accra Regional Commander, added at a meeting with senior officers of political parties in Accra. He said the Police Service would soon come out with modalities to streamline the relationship with political parties to maintain the peace the nation was enjoying. Recalling a recent clash between followers of New Patriotic Party (NPP) and the National Democratic Congress (NDC) at Fadama in Accra, he said: “We never knew and we were not alerted, so when my men got there, it was late. The Police Service would not like such incidents to recur.” Mr. Opare-Addo said the Police Service was committed to maintaining its neutrality in the interest of peace and added that, the Service would not be able to discharge its duties, if political parties were not ready to obey the Public Order Act. The Regional Commander called on all parties to educate their faithful on the rules of the game and also advice them to comport themselves during election time. Mr. Johnson Asiedu Nketia, General Secretary of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), said the Party welcomed the new arrangement of the Police Service and expressed the hope that it would be fairly implemented as promised. Mr. Daniel Lartey, leader of the Great Consolidated Popular Party (GCPP), reiterated the need for the police to do everything possible to ensure fairness and transparency to all parties, especially in the elections. “We are very serious and we will not allow the peace of this country to be toyed with,” Mr Lartey said.
