The Minority Caucus in a Parliament has strongly condemned the decision by the Ghana Police Service to distance itself from comment made by DCOP Gabriel Prince Waabu, the Director-General, Research and Planning, that the police will take the lead role in providing security for the upcoming December election.
The Ranking Member of Parliament Committee on Defense and Interior, and Member of Parliament for Builsa North Constituency in the Upper East Region, Honorable James Agalga in a press briefing in Parliament, took strong exception to the statement by the Ghana Police Service and further admonished them to refrain from such conduct.
According to the former Deputy Minister of Interior under the erstwhile Mahama’s administration, the comment by the DCOP Gabriel Prince Waabu were borne of the fact and hence the Ghana Police Service was wrong in its criticisms against him.
The Honorable James Agalga further noted that the comment that was made by DCOP Gabriel Prince Waabu, the Director-General of, Research and Planning of the Ghana Police were directly in line with the provision of the Ghana Police Service Act and the 1992 Constitution.
Furthermore, the Ranking Member of the Defense and Interior Committee of Parliament, Honorable James Agalga argued that the Police Service Act clearly states that in matters of internal security, the Police Service has the primary role and responsibility to maintain law and order.
He further emphasized that the 1992 Constitution of Ghana equally reinforces the provision of the Police Service Act.
“We are disturbed because we believe strongly that the statement made by Waabu is nothing but a statement of fact, which is borne out of the Police Service Act itself and the 1992 Constitution. It places squarely in the domain of the Police Service to maintain internal peace and security. That includes the management of election security in this country”.
James Agalga, MP Builsa North
Calls For Collaborative Security Operations Ahead of Election 2024
However, the Director of Academic Affairs and Research at the Kofi Annan International Peacekeeping Training Centre, Professor Kwesi Aning has strongly asserted the framework of election and security management requires a collaborative relationship between the various security agencies in the country.
Professor Kwesi Aning, while acknowledging the fact that it is the police who play the frontal role in the management of security during elections, further argued that the role of other statutory security institutions in the country cannot be ignored or underestimated.
“So the statement that the police will be lead and the military will not be part of it didn’t get out well. For election security, it is a collaborative framework; If you remember how the election security framework looks, every single statutory security institution is part of that framework with the police in the lead.
“For almost all elections we need first immigration, customs, and prison help or support the police in providing security at all the number of polling stations”.
Professor Kwesi Aning
Moreover, the venerable security consultant and political scientist, Professor Kwesi Aning indicated that the military for instance is the backbone to the police in security management during election, particularly under extreme circumstance where the police is unable to control.
He noted that even though in the last couple of elections the Ghana Police Service has honed its skills in terms of identifying some of the polling stations and constituencies that may have some difficulty, there is the need for the various security agencies in the country to establish collaborative relationship to gather intelligence to address unforeseen challenges.
According to him, such an approach and collaboration among the various security agencies in the country would go a long way to improve upon security management in the country during election.
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