The Inspector General of Police (IGP), Dr George Akuffo Dampare, is reported to have assured leaders of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) and the New Patriotic Party (NPP), that the Kumawu parliamentary by-elections will be the best Ghana has had in terms of security.
According to the general secretary of the NDC, Fifi Kwetey, the IGP gave the assurance at a joint meeting with the ruling party, NPP, and police.
Fifi Kwetey, who made these remarks in a post shared on Facebook, on Monday, May 22, 2023, added that the IGP said all police officers providing security during the by-election will be in uniform after he raised a concern about uniformed police officers being the cause of election violence.
“I expressed the concerns of the NDC regarding non-uniformed personnel of the Police Service who have been cited for major and unfortunate security mishaps in past by-elections.
“IGP George Akuffo Dampare was emphatic that all Police Officers who will have a role to play in the by-election will be in police uniforms and their names will be boldly displayed on their uniforms.
“The IGP assured the meeting that this will be the best by-election in the 4th Republic in terms of maintaining law and order by the Police Service,” he said.
The NDC general secretary also thanked the IGP and the management of the Ghana Police Service for the ‘splendid work’ they did in maintaining law and order during the NDC presidential and parliamentary primaries.
Background:
Speaker of Parliament Alban Bagbin declared the Kumawu Constituency seat vacant following the demise of the Member of Parliament for the constituency, Philip Basoah.
Speaking on the floor of the House on March 31, 2023, the Speaker said “… we formally communicated to the chairperson of the Electoral Commission of this unfortunate demise of our colleague which has led to the occurrence of a vacancy in the House.”
The official communication was sent to the Electoral Commission of Ghana (EC) on March 31 by the clerk of parliament in accordance to Section 3 of the Republic of Ghana Amendment Act 1996 ACT 52.
The EC subsequently set Tuesday, May 23, 2023, as the date for the primaries.
The by-election will be contested by NPP’s Ernest Yam Anim and NDC’s Akwasi Amankwaa and two independent candidates who have the same name, Kwaku Duah.
Source: ghanaweb.com
