Government will support the security agencies.

THE Minister of the Interior, Mr William K. Aboah, has warned that the government will support the security agencies to deal appropriately with any miscreant who may decide to mar the upcoming electoral processes irrespective of the person’s political persuasion.
He said political violence in whatever shape or form had left imprints of devastation, fatalities, untold hardships and stagnation of economic development on countries which had experienced it.
At the official launch of the Election Training Programme for Law Enforcement Agencies in Preparation for the 2012 General Election at the Police Headquarters in Accra yesterday, the minister said Ghana today was recognised among the most distinguished countries in the world in terms of its multiparty democracy.
He said Ghana’s democratic credentials had placed it in a pole position on the world map and made it a role model in contemporary democratic dispensation, adding that since entering multiparty democracy in 1992, the country had successfully held elections in an atmosphere of peace and tranquillity.
 Mr Aboah attributed this remarkable achievement largely to the profusion of professionalism, vigilance, selflessness, non-partisanship, hard work and commitment of the security agencies.
“Indeed the nation is indebted in gratitude to our security agencies  for the unflinching support they always provide for our beloved country anytime the need arise and it is in this vain that I urge you not to rest on your oars but strive harder in ensuring that this year’s election is registered as an incident-free one,” the minister said.
He said it was the collective desire of every discerning Ghanaian that the December 2012 elections would be conducted successfully without any life being lost or property being destroyed.
Mr Aboah said it was in recognition of this fact that the government found it gratifying, appropriate and timely that the British Government had  in collaboration with other stakeholders  prepared a comprehensive training programme aimed at equipping the police and building the capacity of the security agencies throughout the country to meet all potential security challenges before, during and after the December 2012 elections.
The minister expressed the hope that the participants would take the training seriously for the ultimate benefit of mother Ghana and urged all the security heads to work in harmony and consolidate the very foundation of the nation’s democracy.
 For his part, the Inspector General of Police (IGP), Mr Paul Tawiah Quaye, said training was one of the key requirements necessary for the development of available human resource in any organisation.
He said the training programme was also designed to address the issue of effective harmonisation of the operational strategies and tactics to be employed by all law enforcement agencies in order to reduce internal competition that usually ensued among security agencies during such events.
He asserted that a series of exercises would be conducted to enable participants to map out effective strategies  to avert any such unforseen eventualities before, during and after the elections, adding that the unique programme line-up would help to identify special equipment and election-specific tools needed and how to effectively handle them to ensure smooth operationalisation of election activities.
The British High Commissioner, Mr Peter Jones, said he was proud that the UK was lending its support, both technical and financial, to this programme designed to make a critical contribution to the good conduct of this year’s election.
He said aside this programme, the UK was also supporting several aspects of the electoral and democratic process, including support to the Electoral Commission and the Judiciary, adding that no element was more important than ensuring that the police and other security services and agencies were optimally prepared and equipped to provide the right environment - a safe, secure and fair environment - for the people of Ghana to exercise their democratic right, “to have their say, to make their vote count and to decide the future of their country”.
The High Commissioner indicated that Ghana had earned for itself an enviable reputation as a beacon of democratic best practice to other countries. “The election in 2012 offers another chance for Ghana to show the rest of the world what it can do. I am sure that it will rise to the challenge, and once again set the standard to which others will aspire,” he said.
“Today marks the formal launch of awareness training programme which will extend to all regions of Ghana in the coming weeks. In total 16,000 security personnel drawn from the Ghana Police Service, Ghana Prison Service and the Ghana National Fire Service will benefit from a package that will equip them with the necessary skills and knowledge for them to fully understand their roles and responsibilities in support of the Presidential and Parliamentary elections,” he said.
He said another support would also include a new Aide Memoire card on security officers’ duties and correct roles and responsibilities during the elections, to be issued to personnel for use on election day.
He expressed the hope that this support and programme would help Ghana to again lead the way in electoral best practice.