President Akufo-Addo yesterday handed over 200 brand new vehicles to the Ghana Police Service (GPS).
Speaking at a brief ceremony to hand over the new Toyota Camry and Corolla cars at the Police headquarters in Accra, the president said “ultimately, our aim is to strengthen the police and fashion it into an honest, disciplined, efficient and robust force.”
He said his administration was committed to building an impeccable Police Force committed to ensuring the safety of Ghanaians and maintaining the territorial integrity of the country.
Government, he said, would spare no effort in fashioning the force into an honest, disciplined, efficient, robust and proactive service.
“Government will continue to mobilize whatever assistance it can to enable the police give the people the kind of service they deserve.”
He, therefore, urged them to maintain the vehicles and use them to serve and protect the Ghanaian people.
The president reiterated the commitment of government to provide the resources to enable the police discharge their duties effectively.
He said the presentation of the vehicles was in fulfillment of a promise he made earlier, describing the day as a happy one.
“The most essential things for a nation are peace and safety of the people and its territorial integrity, and it’s when these are guaranteed that the citizens could go about their normal life to improve the quality of their circumstances.
“We sleep feeling protected when the men and women of the police service work to keep our nation, community and streets safe. It is therefore vital that the Executive should offer its full support to the police to perform its duty of maintaining law and order.”
He indicated that government had begun the rehabilitation of police stations throughout the country to standardize infrastructure, adding that kits, protective gears, vehicles and other essential equipment would be given to the police in the coming months.
President Akufo-Addo being supported by James Oppong-Boanuh (2nd right), Deputy IGP and Kwaku Asiamah (right), Minister of Transport to cut the tape
Deputy Inspector General of Police, James Oppong-Boanuh, who took delivery of the vehicles, said the cars would replace the pickups that are suitable for patrol but have been allocated to offices currently.
This, according to him, would ensure that there are suitable vehicles to combat crime on the highways in the communities.
Mr. Oppong-Boanuh said government was responsible for the provision of logistics to the police and other security agencies and appealed to public spirited persons and stakeholders to support the GPS in that regard.
The police, he said, have adopted five themes under its transformation agenda to create a synergy to make it a world-class service.
The agenda would focus on the welfare of officers on the ground, Police Professional and Standards Bureau (PPSB), Community Policing, Criminal Investigations Department (CID), with Information Communication Technology (ICT) as the main driver.
He thanked the government and people of Ghana for their continuous support and pledged to serve Ghanaians with integrity.
By Charles Takyi-Boadu, Presidential Correspondent