Lt. Col. (Rtd.) Larry Gbevlo-Lartey
The opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) has rejected security arrangements put in place for this year’s general election by the police, saying that the announcement on the authorized uniform to be worn on Election Day will be inadequate.
Director of Operations for the NDC 2020 Campaign, Lt. Col. (Rtd.) Larry Gbevlo-Lartey, who is a former National Security Coordinator, said in a statement yesterday that the party wanted all police personnel and others drawn from other security agencies to be properly identified with their names clearly displayed on their uniforms.
“This normal dressing requirement for all service personnel should be strictly enforced to assuage fears that some police uniforms being sewn will find its way into the hands of vigilantes/hoodlums recruited by the ruling party/government to intimidate and suppress voters in opposition strongholds.
“Indeed, the NDC takes seriously information making the rounds that persons other than genuine police officers, some of whom were described as National Security operatives who committed acts of brigandage during the Ayawaso West Wogon by-election last year, will be clothed in such police uniforms to avoid detection,” Mr. Gbevlo-Lartey’s statement noted.
According to the statement, it is the contention of the NDC that “the wearing of name tag identification is the surest way to safeguard the integrity and image of the Ghana Police Service and other security agencies that will be deployed for Election Day security activities.”
“It is noteworthy that at a recent meeting of the Ministry of National Security and a delegation of the NDC, the latter made this 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,” the NDC said.
The statement indicated that at the same meeting, the NDC delegation also recommended that the police administration should, for the sake of accountability and ease of reference, keep a register of all personnel who would be deployed at various locations on December 7 and make such a list available in case of any eventuality.
“Such additional measures as the NDC has recommended will serve to reassure the citizenry of a free and fair election,” the opposition party said, and urged the Inspector General of Police to take serious note of “our legitimate concerns and act upon them in the interest of public safety and a peaceful election.”
The Ghana Police Service had announced that only traditional police uniforms would be worn on Election 2020 duties and related operations.
The Inspector General of Police (IGP), James Oppong-Boanuh, stated in Parliament recently that traditional uniforms of the police – blue-black/black and camouflage uniforms – would be used by the police for this purpose.
The NDC said it believed that the measures taken by the police were derived from “the lessons learnt from the embarrassment the Ghana Police Service suffered during the Ayawaso West Wuogon bye election disgrace.”
“We therefore commend the IGP and his staff on plans drawn by the National Election Security Task Force to sanitize the security situation and maintain law and order on December 7 Election Day and ensure peace,” the NDC stated.
By Ernest Kofi Adu