Police, military to provide adequate security for election 2012
By Dora Akyaa Asare
The Ghana Police Service and the military have underscored the need to intensify collaboration to enable them provide adequate security for the up-coming general elections.
The two sister-security agencies acknowledged the task facing them, citing the charged atmosphere, and the expectations of the general public in the run-up to the elections.
Speaking at a meeting between the two institutions at the Police Headquarters, the Inspector-General of Police, Mr. Paul Tawiah Quaye, stated that considering the performance of the security agencies in previous elections, they cannot afford to lower the standards.
Mr. Tawiah Quaye stressed the need to step up efforts at joint planning and co-ordination to ensure peaceful and successful elections.
In a related development, the IGP has called for a review of operational strategies to deal with crime, especially, armed robbery, to further entrench the peace the country was enjoying.
While speaking glowingly about the successes of Operation Calm Life, a joint operation by the police and the military to fight armed robbery, the IGP stressed the need to reinvigorate it to permanently keep the canker under control.
On the issue of the relationship between the military and the police, the Chief of Defence Staff, Lt. General Peter Augustine Blay, emphasised the need for further improvement in order to achieve their goals.
The CDS decried the occasional clashes between personnel of the two institutions at the lower rungs, and expressed the hope that the Standard Operation procedures recently drawn up by the police and the military would permanently bring an end to the issue.
While extolling the democratic credentials of the country, Lt. General Blay further noted that the two institutions must work harder to complement each other, rather than compete with each other.
He, therefore, assured the IGP of the unflinching support of the military.
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