No negative political activities; police warn

Superintendent of Police Charles Botwe, the Sunyani District Police Commander, says the police would not tolerate political activities that would have the potential to cause mayhem in the municipality before, during and after the December poll.

He said politics of acrimony, rancour and intimidation was a thing of the past and the country's democratic dispensation had reached a level that enabled eligible voters to exercise their civic responsibilities without fear or interference.

Mr Botwe, who is the chairman of the Sunyani West District Election Security Taskforce, said this at a meeting of the taskforce at Odumase, the district capital.

He said ensuring free, fair, peaceful and transparent election was a shared responsibility for security agencies, the Electoral Commission, National Commission for Civic Education and the entire society.

The eight-member task force is made up of representatives of Sunyani West District Assembly, Ghana National Fire Service, Customs, Excise and Preventive Service, Ghana Police Service, Ghana Immigration Service and Bureau of National Investigations.

Mr Botwe said the taskforce intended to form patrol teams that would be deployed at the 200 polling stations in Sunyani East and West constituencies.

He said the taskforce had met representatives of almost all the political parties within its operational area to educate them on the electoral process and the need to guard against campaigns of insults and abusive remarks.

Mr Botwe spoke about the rate at which some people used abusive language in their contributions to phone-in segments of radio programmes and said such behaviour posed a threat to peace.

While appealing to media practitioners to cross-check information, more especially concerning elections before dissemination, Mr Botwe commended the media for their contributions in helping to nurture democracy.

He warned the electorate against carrying offensive instruments to polling stations on voting day and said “the police are mandated to arrest and prosecute anybody who would be spotted carrying any offensive material”.