Be Fair, Professional That’s All

Yesterday, the Ghana Police Service hosted a press conference at its headquarters to keep the public posted about its preparedness for the general elections.

Coming at the backdrop of the special voting exercise today at selected centres across the country, we find the conference auspicious even though we have reservations about the sincerity of the law enforcement agency.

The conference did not come as a surprise to many of us. The Ghana Armed Forces had earlier engaged with the media at the Air Force Officers Mess in Accra to tell Ghanaians about their role in managing internal security in a supporting role to the Police during the elections. Following this we expected the Police would follow suit with an engagement with the media and for that matter the people of Ghana and that was exactly what happened.

Besides informing the people of Ghana about their preparedness for the polls, the Ghana Police Service sought to use the opportunity to address the multifaceted charges leveled against them by both members of the public and the media especially in respect of their management or otherwise of political cases.

While we still stand by the concerns we raised in countless commentaries about the below average performance of the Police, we are not implying that they are not competent to manage their roles. What has happened rather is that they have allowed themselves to be used by bad politicians for who anything is fair game provided these would inure to their political interests.

We do not doubt the capacity of the Police to undertake basic police duties, especially investigations. What we have doubts in are their abilities to tell politicians, who push them into taking certain actions, regardless of whether these are professionals or not, to allow them to do their work. Our fears are steeped in empirical evidence about how the Police have turned their backs on critical cases by a mere phone call from their superiors whose obsession with being promoted or having their appointments extended by the political establishment has led to them being ready to do anything demanded by those at the helm.

Until the Police are able to assert themselves and do their work, irrespective of whose ox is gored, they would continue to lose the confidence of Ghanaians.

It is regrettable that today, most Ghanaians, should a scientific survey be conducted, would score the law enforcement agency low.

There have been many outstanding cases which because they are political in nature are confined behind the back-burners with the usual “under investigation” tag.

By that tag, these cases join the stash of dusty files at the CID headquarters.

The cases being investigated such as the Naaba Abdulai's boastful claim of killing people always will maintain this status till another political administration decides to order an actual investigation.

Today, the category of Ghanaians entitled to vote due to their peculiar circumstances must either be in queues to vote or have cast their ballots already. The main general election is only a week away.

After many twists and turns, queries and even polemics, the die is cast. Ghanaians have taken the first step towards electing a President and Members of Parliament.

We have all reached a point of no return and must therefore vote, notwithstanding the challenges of missing names and others.

We shall see in the coming days how determined the Police are to execute their mandate without taking sides, as Ghanaians suspect they would.

Let IGP John Kudalor prove his critics wrong by allowing his officers and other ranks to discharge their duties professionally and with the fear of God.

Ballot box snatchers and mischief-makers should be treated as suspects and dealt with according to the law, regardless of their political affiliations. That is all we demand of the Police.