By Edzorna Francis Mensah
The Minority in Parliament, through its ranking on the Parliamentary Select Committee on Defence and Interior, has associated itself with the comments made by DCOP Gabriel Prince Waabu concerning the provision of security in the upcoming December general elections.
DCOP Waabu, during a panel discussion on JoyNews a few days ago, indicated that the Police Service had learned lessons on ensuring peaceful elections, which means it will exclude the military from this year’s elections.
According to him, “we are not going to involve the military as it were, and it is going to be only the police, fire service, prisons, and then immigration service [that will provide security during the elections]. It is our baby, it is the police baby, and we will invite our sister security services to assist in one way or the other.”
But the Ghana Police Service, in a statement, disassociated itself from the comments by DCOP Waabu’s and stressed entirely that the comments are his and do not represent the Service in any way or form.
The service said the statements made by DCOP Gabriel Prince Waabu concerning election security are unfounded and do not represent the position of the Ghana Police Service. We would therefore like to disassociate the Ghana Police Service completely from the statements and apologise to the Ghana Armed Forces. The conduct of the officer is being subjected to internal disciplinary processes of the Ghana Police Service”.
PRESS RELEASE:
— Ghana Police Service (@GhPoliceService) February 20, 2024
POLICE STATEMENT ON COMMENTS BY DCOP MR GABRIEL PRINCE WAABU ON ELECTION SECURITY pic.twitter.com/aRm3KIeW3s
The statement further said, “we want to state that under the National Elections Security Taskforce Architecture, the Ghana Police Service works with all other security services, including the Ghana Armed Forces, to ensure peace, security, law and order, before, during and after elections. The approach to the 2024 General elections will be no different.”
Responding to the Police, James Agalga, the MP for Builsa North Constituency in the Upper East Region and the former Deputy Minister of Interior under the John Mahama Administration, said the police have got it wrong and they must desist from any attempt to intimidate the DCOP, Gabriel Prince Waabu.
He submitted that the police are primarily responsible for internal security when it comes to elections, and so shall it be. He said the military only comes in when the police is overstretched or overwhelmed, adding that, that must even be done at the “behest of the police”.
He found it shocking and regrettable for the police administration to dissociate itself from “a known and factual statement from a senior officer.
