IGP Christian Tetteh Yohuno
Today, the people of Akwatia go to the polls to elect a replacement for the late Member of Parliament (MP) for the electoral area who passed on recently.
We have observed the posturing of the two dominant political parties in the past few weeks as we have the preparedness of the police.
Before today, the Inspector General of Police (IGP), Christian Tetteh Yohuno engaged with the leadership of the political parties with a view to ostensibly ensure smooth and hitch-free polls.
He promised to swarm the place with some five thousand police officers.
If such numbers have anything to do with efficiency, we should not have problems at all.
The New Patriotic Party (NPP) demanded that the military should not be deployed to Akwatia as this could have negative impact on the electoral exercise.
This has been accepted by the IGP, and we think that is a good sign.
Reports which made the rounds yesterday indicate that the checkpoints leading to Akwatia were not manned by police personnel, to put it bluntly they were deserted. Â This we find surprising considering the fact that the days running up to such crucial electoral exercises are usually exploited by bad politicians to ferry thugs.
The IGP has another opportunity to make good the negative impression he carved for himself at the Ablekuma North election re-run.
It was a re-run overrun by hired thugs as police officers, as it were, folded their arms.
Today, the country’s democracy including the integrity of the IGP would be on test. Will the polls be smooth or the political parties for want of poor policing would have to fend for themselves in terms of security? Will the police be professional? Today will tell.
Rumours have it that some party thugs would be clothed in police or military fatigues for action today. Such despicable acts of indiscipline endorsed by some party leaders should not be allowed to be part of our elections architecture.
We have grown past this nonsense in our democratic march.
The attention of the country would be riveted upon Akwatia today for both the outcome of the polls and how the police undertake their assignments.
At Ablekuma North they failed; they should not do so at Akwatia because that would blow out completely the remaining bits of public confidence in the foremost internal security management department.
The enigma surrounding by-elections should be broken today so that we can as a country pat each other on the backs for a decent electoral exercise.
The thugs who were engaged to do the dirty work at Ablekuma North re-run should turn their backs on their sponsors this time round.