Maintain professional standards, Minority urges Police

Page 13, Aug 1, 2009
Story: Emmanuel Adu-Gyamerah

THE Minority in Parliament has urged the Ghana Police Service to continue to engage in what it terms the “democratic policing and professionalism devoid of unwarranted excesses” to forestall public displeasure and condemnation.
“We congratulate them for the introduction of handsome rewards for informants, and urge them to protect the identities of whistleblowers”.
In a statement issued and signed by the Minority Spokesperson for Defence and Interior, Mr William Ofori Boafo, the Minority said it did not want the police to adopt the situation where the former Principal Accountant of the Ministry of Youth and Sports, Mr Adim Odoom, was unmasked for exposing the former Sports Minister, Alhaji Muntaka Mubarak.
The statement, which was in apparent reaction to the recent press briefing about the country’s security, also called on the government to immediately address the welfare and logistical requirements of the security agencies.
The statement added that the Minority acknowledged the emerging resourcefulness of the Ghana Police Service, the dynamism of the Ghana Immigration Service and the irreversible determination of the Narcotics Control Board in the combat against armed robbery, money laundering, cyber fraud, cross border crimes and trafficking.
Commenting on issues raised in the Minister of the Interior’s press briefing, the statement noted that the minister lauded himself for the past glories of the security services.
The statement said the minister was unable to indicate what outstanding and significant thing the NDC administration had done within the past seven months in office which had enabled the security agencies to perform creditably.
“He did not express regret about the freeze on fresh intake to strengthen and augment the capacity of the police; he did not indicate what had been done to solve the stark accommodation problems of the police; neither was he explicit regarding the upgrading of equipment to make the police more combat ready”.
The Minority stated that the minister failed to touch on the broken down vehicles and motorcycles at the various garages which were desperately crying for repairs.
The statement wondered why the minister also failed to address the continuous harassment of supporters of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) by NDC supporters, and cited incidents at Sankore in the Brong Ahafo Region and the recent mayhem at the Kokomba Market to buttress his point.
It also questioned the basis for the mass transfer in the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) of the Police Service as well as the retrenchment of about 40 personnel of the National Security apparatus without any just or fair cause.