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The Inspector General of Police(IGP), Dr George Akuffo Dampare, says the National Security Task Force is fixing up arrangements for the upcoming District and National Elections.
The IGP said the upcoming district-level elections was crucial, such that there was the need to consult the Ghana Armed Forces, Ghana Prisons, Ghana Immigration Service Ghana Fire Service and other relevant security agencies to ensure security at all levels.
Dr Dampare said this during the National Election Security Task Force meeting held in Accra on Tuesday 5 November 2023.
The 2023 District level Elections, barring any last-minute hitches, will be held on 19 December, 2023, allowing eligible voters to elect Assembly Members to represent their respective electoral areas in the various Metropolitan, Municipal, and District Assemblies(MMDAs), as well as five Unit committees members for each electoral area.
The meeting saw various security agencies represented, where they all expressed readiness for the District-Level Elections (DLE),which would also serve as a “dress rehearsal” for the 2024 Presidential and Parliamentary Elections.
He said the Police Service with all the relevant security agencies had decided not to take anything for joke, assuring Ghanaians of peaceful elections at both District and National levels.
The IGP said the task force had become an integral part of the election processes and democratic practices.
“We only have One Ghana, and we will sit collectively as professionals and as patriotic citizens to do whatever it takes to continue to let peace remain, and we will not compromise on this,” IGP added.
The chairperson of the Electoral Commission, Mrs Jean Mensa, said the quest for power in current times had become fierce, adding that nobody or nothing would be spared in the quest to attain that power.
She said one major challenge faced during elections was that abuse of social to disseminate fake news around elections by “faceless individuals” for sole purpose of causing disaffection for institutions such as the commission in promoting unrest.
“Indeed, in a bid to capture power,our politicians and their supporters use all manner of methods to achieve their goals,in the wake of this, our security and safety are not spared, hence the need of security,” she said.
The Chairperson said Commission was confident that the Cyber Security wing of the Police would be up to task and would deal those situations timely.
“We trust that in their efforts to do this, those b3hind the spread of fake news will be brought to the books and dealt with,” she said .
Mrs Mensa said the Commission looked forward to working closely with the Task Force and key stakeholders to ensure that elections in Ghana, particularly the upcoming district assembly election and national elections Wes credible, transparent and peaceful.
Chief of Defense Staff, Vice Admiral Seth Amoama, said fro,m all indications, next year’s national elections would be a crucial one, and that as custodians of national security, the Armed Forces was ready to ensure peaceful elections as always done.
The Chief of Defense Staff said the Armed Force was committed to their constitutional mandate and duty to protect the country and prevent any aggression both internally and externally.
“For the elections, we may not be in the upfront of the election duties p, but we will be strongly in the background, ever ready and ever prepared to support the Police Service and other Security services,” he added
