The Inspector General of Police (IGP), Dr George Akuffo Dampare, has urged police officers to work closely with other security agencies to provide a peaceful, secure, and orderly environment for the 2024 general election.
“I came to recommend to you that let’s continue, this time round beyond measure, to deepen the cooperation and partnership that we have among the other security agencies so that together, we can work to provide a peaceful, secure, and orderly environment for the elections,” he said.
The IGP made the call on Wednesday when he paid a working visit to the Tema Police Regional Command to interact with officers and commend them for their professional work towards a peaceful election in December.
He and his entourage also paid a courtesy call on the Tema Traditional Council to discuss with the chiefs and leaders of Tema on pertinent security matters.
He said Ghana could not go back on its security and cautioned the officers against complacency as more was expected of the Police Service in the election period and beyond to keep the country intact.
Dr Akuffu Dampare said his visit formed part of activities to implement a bottom-up leadership approach rather than a top-down one where “we listen to you and process the information into a better strategy to help us deliver on our mandate.”
He encouraged the personnel to discharge their duties professionally to enable the Service to win the hearts and minds of the people, as that would guarantee the needed support for the Police to do its work well.
“If we lose the people, we lose our work because we are their servants. So if your masters aren’t happy with you, how will you feel about serving them?
“So we came to encourage you to continue to be very professional and also to continue to touch base with the communities that you serve, listen to their concerns, and let’s address them,” he said.
Assistant Commissioner of Police (ACP) Grace Ansah Akrofi, the Director of Public Affairs, Ghana Police Service, briefing the media after the visit, said the upcoming election was a big deal for the Service, which had demonstrated serious commitment to all election-related activities, including special voting, vote transfer, and registration.
The nationwide tour of the Police Administration and Police Management Board was to encourage the officers to keep working hard even as the election approached, she said.
The National Election Security Task Force comprises all the security agencies in the country, under the leadership of the IGP, which was ready to work with all partners to ensure peace, security, law, and order so that Ghana will be the winner.”
