<<Print>>

DCOP Kofi Boakye, Western Regional Police Commander, has urged senior officers heading the various units of the police institution in the region to assist him realise his vision of building the safest oil region in Africa. He said the region remains critical to the development of Ghana and, therefore, deserves serious protection from possible and potential security threats that might be instigated by criminals because of the new economic position the region has assumed. Addressing senior officers of the service at the maiden edition of the regional senior police officers� conference held in Takoradi on Thursday, he appealed to them to buy into his vision to help him drive policing properly in the region. �The vision is to make the Western Region the safest oil region in Africa,� DCOP Kofi Boakye stressed. He further assured his men of his commitment to work closely with all the key stakeholders in the region in order to succeed in actualising all the elements contained in the vision with the hope of changing the face of security in the region. The assurance given by the regional commander to maintain and further enhance security in the oil region has come barely a month after he took office and has been described as swift reaction to series of reports emanating from both local and international media that oil development in most parts of Africa and its management has often been frosted with serious security implications. Many of these reports suggest that the potential threats being posed by disgruntled members of the community in the oil region have been overwhelming, especially if it is not well managed by stakeholders, including the security services. Consequently, many development experts have maintained that Ghana, being one of the best democratic nations in Africa, has been challenged to once again demonstrate high level of understanding of the security threats that come with her oil exploration, drilling and management. Under the circumstance, all eyes will be on the country to shame the devil, by streamlining activities of the sector to make the country outstanding in this area of the extractive sector. According to him, he will also collaborate with other agencies to improve the security situation in the region, adding that �I deem it not only a duty but also a responsibility to work together with the security agencies in the region to provide the Western Regional Police Command the desired leadership required to transform the police service to be able to carry out efficiently its constitutional mandate. More importantly, to ensure that maximum security, peace and stability are enjoyed in the region�. The commander said he would use proactive measures instead of reactive, as the new policing paradigm shift requires, to improve citizenship participation in law enforcement and crime fighting. He also promised to improve on patrolling in the region, with his some of men to be deployed on highways to maintain safety. He, however, asked for public co-operation. �Bear in mind that the police are the public and the public are the police. This implies that security is a shared and collective responsibility,� he underscored. In addition, he said, the police command will not tolerate any act of malfeasance and disrespect to the public. �Service should be our key value in our interaction with the public,� he added.