Police Will Deal With Troublemakers At Registration Centres - IGP Warns

The Inspector-General of Police (IGP), has warned that the police will deal resolutely with people who foment trouble at registration centres during the ongoing biometric voters registration exercise. Mr Paul Tawiah Quaye, assured all qualified applicants that their safety was guaranteed and urged them to go out in their numbers to register to enable them to exercise their franchise in the December general election. �I want to assure all stakeholders that the Ghana Police Service will be fair, professional and resolute in handling any registration offences that will be reported during the exercise,� he told journalists after visiting some registration centres in Accra Thursday. Presently, the Police Service is implementing a comprehensive national security strategy for the registration exercise, with all police commands actively providing the needed security for the exercise. The IGP was accompanied by the Police High Command, including the Director-General (Operations), Commissioner of Police (COP) John Kudalor; the Director-General (Technical), COP Ofosu-Mensah Gyeabuor; the Director-General (Administration), COP Rose Bio Atinga, and the Director-General (Finance), Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCOP) Dr George Akuffo Danpare. Other senior officers in the IGP�s entourage were the Deputy Accra Regional Police Commander, DCOP Christian Tetteh Yohunu; the Chief Staff Officer, Assistant Commissioner of Police (ACP) Fred Adu Anim, and the acting Director of Public Relations, Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) Cephas Arthur. Since the beginning of the biometric registration exercise last Saturday, there have been reported incidents of disturbances at some centres across the country. The visit by the IGP and the Police High Command was to monitor the exercise from the security perspective and send a clear message to troublemakers that the police would not tolerate them. The IGP and his entourage visited five registration centres at the St Kizito Roman Catholic Basic School at Nima in the Ayawaso East Constituency, the Accra Technical Training Centre (ATTC) in the Ayawaso Central Constituency and the Dansoman Police Station in the Ablekuma South Constituency, all in the Accra metropolis, as well as the Tetegu/Oblogo M/A Basic School and the Techfam SCC, both in the Weija Constituency in the Ga South District. At some of the registration centres, the registration officers informed the IGP about some initial security challenges that nearly marred the exercise. The Registration Officer at the Tetegu/Oblogo M/A Basic School, Simon Opoku Agyemang, said there had been tension at the centre when the exercise began as a result of people moving from other areas where the exercise was yet to be conducted to register. At the Techfam SCC registration centre at New Weija, some supporters of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) were alleged to have stormed the centre last Sunday to cause confusion, compelling registration officials to temporarily suspend the exercise. The Registration Officer at the centre, Richard Mintah Boateng, said it took the timely intervention of the police to restore order for the exercise to continue. At the other registration centres visited, everything was going on smoothly, apart from complaints by the people concerning long queues and the slow process of the exercise. The IGP urged the people to exercise restraint and promised them of police protection to ensure orderliness at the registration centres. He appealed to all and sundry to co-operate with the Electoral Commission (EC) to ensure the success of the registration exercise, reiterating his warning that the police would arrest and prosecute anyone who fomented trouble at the registration centres. Looking ahead to the December polls, Mr Quaye assured the nation and the international community that the police, in partnership with the other security agencies, �are more than prepared to maintain law and order before, during and after the elections�. He said police personnel had been told to continue to be professional, fair and non-partisan in the discharge of election duties and warned of �likely unpleasant circumstances� against non-conformists.