Mills Replies NPP: I�m Not A Policeman Or Prosecutor

The President of Ghana, John Evans Atta Mills, has reacted to the opposition New Patriotic Party�s (NPP) demands that he should deal directly with the melee being recorded at registration centres across the country. The flagbearer of the NPP, Nana Akufo-Addo, told the media the developments in the ongoing biometric voter registration exercise go contrary to President Mills� stated commitment of ensuring a peaceful, free and fair election in December, and has challenged him to walk the talk. Nana Addo�s assertion comes in the wake of an attack on his parliamentary candidate for the Ablekuma South Constituency, Ursula Owusu, and his aide, Abu Jinapor at the troubled-Odododiodio Constituency in the Greater Accra Region. �Either he [President Mills] doesn�t have any authority over his own aides or he is deceiving the Ghanaian people when he says he wants a peaceful process. You see no effort being made to bring to book those responsible for the violence, especially in the light of the regrettable statements made by the head of the police service that the police, are allegedly in his words, going to be neutral,� he said. However, President Mills in a direct reply said his job as the head of state is to equip the law enforcement agencies to deal with disturbances and does not have to go on the ground to usurp the powers of the security agencies. �There are some who also think that the President should be directly in charge of enforcement of law. Unfortunately, the President is not a law enforcement officer; the President can�t be a prosecutor. These are not powers which have been conferred on the President,� President Mills said during a day�s visit at Cape Coast in the Central Region. He added: �The President�s responsibility is to ensure that the security agencies are in a position to perform their given assignments. �It is important that we all deal with one another and in an open manner and in the best of faith. Utterances, statements and pronouncements which are likely to provoke people into taking the law into their own arms are not the things that one should encourage.� The President ordered the security forces to deal with anyone found fomenting trouble in the country. �I therefore want to reiterate the call that I have made often to our security agencies that no one or group is above the law and I know they are determined to ensure that those who break the law, especially during this time face the full rigours of our laws,� he added.