Naagyei 90.3 Fm Agyapa
An eleven-member Regional Election Security Taskforce has been sworn into office to manage issues relating to the upcoming District Level Elections, the Referendum and the 2020 General Election.
It is chaired by Commissioner of Police (COP) Kwasi Mensah Duku, the Ashanti Regional Police Commander, with members being the Regional BNI Commander, Regional Immigration Commander, Regional Commander, Customs Division of the GRA, Commander 4BN, Regional Police Crime Officer and Regional Fire Service Commander.
The rest are the Regional Prisons Commander, Regional Security Liaison Officer, Regional Electoral Officer, and Regional Defence Intelligence Officer.
They were sworn-in by Mr Justice Kofi Akrowiah, the Supervising High Court Judge.
COP Duku said elections were important aspects of every democratic dispensation where eligible voters were offered the opportunity to exercise their franchise without intimidation of any form.
He said since 1992, the country had had seven successful general elections and the upcoming one should not be an exception, pledging that the Taskforce was going to strategise for a clean and improved election.
It would provide the required security before, during and after the process while guaranteeing a successful plan to ensure an incident-free one in the Region.
COP Duku said it was important to activate the platform for elections monitoring and security early in the country to support the Electoral Commission (EC) to successfully conduct the upcoming elections in a peaceful atmosphere.
He asked the members to nominate at least 10 senior officers with appropriate experience to serve in the various technical sub-committees to ensure successful implementation of the plan.
The Regional Police Commander outlined the duties to be performed to include; ensuring safe transport and storage of ballot materials at police stations, peace at polling centres on the election day, while seeking amicable settlement of minor complaints.
Again, it would put in place arrangements to deal with issues concerning offenders, identify inaccessible areas for advance planning to secure the proper mode of conveying electoral materials, as well as identifying hot spots.
Mr Justice Akrowiah, on his part, advised members to work in accordance with the laws to ensure successful outcomes and gain the confidence of the people.
Mr Benjamin Baah Bio, Ashanti Regional Director of the Electoral Commission, said the Region had about 1,087 electoral areas and more than 3.7 million registered voters, which indicated that the EC had a lot to do and the role of security agencies was crucial.
GNA
