The National Democratic Congress (NDC) has lauded the Police administration for instituting the wearing of prescribed uniforms for all officers on duty at various polling stations in this year’s elections.
“It is our contention the wearing of name tag identification is the surest way to safeguard integrity and image of the Ghana Police Service and other security agencies that will be deployed for election day security activities,” it added.
In a statement issued by the party in Accra on Tuesday, the Director of Operations for the NDC 2020 Campaign, Lieutenant Colonel (Retired) Larry Gbevlo-Lartey said the initiative would, “sanitise the security situation, maintain law and order on election day and ensure peace.”
It urged the Ghana Police Service to ensure that the prescribed dress code for officers would be strictly enforced to avert unscrupulous persons having access and using Police uniforms to intimidate and suppress the electorate on December 7.
The statement asked the Inspector General of Police, James Oppong-Boanuh to ensure that all members of the National Elections Security Task Force also wore prescribed uniforms with proper identifications on them.
It said the uniform to be worn on election day would be inadequate without ensuring that all Police personnel and others drawn from other security agencies were properly identified with their names clearly displayed on their uniforms.
The statement raised concern over information making rounds that persons other than genuine Police officers who allegedly committed acts of violence during the Ayawaso West Wuogon bi-election last year would be engaging in similar act during this year’s elections.
It urged the Police Service to ensure that measures were put in place to detect such recalcitrant persons early and thwart their actions.
The statement said at a recent meeting of the Ministry of National Security, the NDC, made the same point, because, “we are genuinely concerned about the likelihood of vigilante elements being paraded in Police uniforms to perpetrate acts of intimidation and brutality.”
It recommended the Police administration to keep a register of all officers who would be deployed at various locations on December 7, and make such a list available in case of any eventuality and such additional measures would serve to reassure the citizenry of a free, fair, peaceful, credible and transparent elections.
