IGP has earned his keep

On Sunday, July 21, 2024, Dr George Akufo Dampare will mark three years in office as Inspector General of Police (IGP).

While the milestone will elicit commendations from a cross-section of society either for what it simply represents or for any form of attainments in the role, it will also throw a sharp focus on the whole of the Ghana Police Service under his tenure.

Part of that focus will be about what the future holds for the country in terms of internal security under Dr Dampare’s leadership, particularly as the country heads into another general election in December this year.

Over these past three years, Dr Dampare has presided over security at three by-elections, and the parliamentary and presidential primaries of both the governing New Patriotic Party (NPP) and the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC). Those intra-party contests provide their own security challenges that, at some points, threaten to surpass the scale of what is more likely in national polls.

But the police can be credited for the generally peaceful and almost violence-free by-elections in Kumawu in the Ashanti Region, Assin North in the Central Region and then Ejisu, also in the Ashanti Region.

At those by-elections, the police provided the kind of support service that restored some dignity to themselves after the unfortunate case of Ayawaso West Wuogon in the Greater Accra Region.

It was at Ayawaso West Wuogon in 2018 that some operatives of state security participated in the violent electoral process that left a number of people maimed. Up to this day, some of the victims of that violence remain incapacitated.

But a worse situation was to confront the nation in 2020 when eight people were killed on a single night by gunshots from state security in Techiman South in the Bono East Region.

As we stated in our editorial of June 4, 2024: “Every life and limb are important national resources that should not be wasted or allowed to become a burden to society. Violence has often left such indelible marks of pain and sorrow on the minds of society, and questioned the sense of responsibility of the collective society”.

It is also our considered view that while deviants exist everywhere, advanced societies have shown the correlation between peaceful and orderly systems and development; that peaceful and orderly systems are themselves products of a trustworthy environment; and a trustworthy environment is built by all stakeholders.

We also maintain that “a trustworthy system requires every effort to tame the elements of violence on an even scale, and not to pick and choose the victims of prosecution on the basis of party colours or the social standing of personalities” as stated in that editorial.

An even-handed treatment is most important in order to win the trust of all players in the system, particularly the political parties. Videos and images of unarmed police officers engaging the public in the communities in a civil manner during the recent by-elections were heartwarming gestures that won the admiration of the public; a marked departure from the hostile engagement and the attendant violent spectacle of Ayawaso West Wuogon.

As was the case in the previous eight general elections under the Fourth Republic, the stakes will be high in the December 7 polls. But December 7, 2024, is not the day of Armageddon; it will be one of the days of national exercises meant to yield development.

This is why no effort should be spared in guarding the country’s democratic credentials; a proud identity amid the political instability in the West African neighbourhood. The Daily Graphic also commends the IGP and his personnel for the sanity they have brought in the area of pillion riding, popularly known as ‘Okada’, a group of people who had no respect for traffic regulations, but will now stop and wait at traffic lights intersections.

This has helped to reduce the number of crashes and fatalities.

The service has also improved police visibility, as personnel on motorbikes and sometimes on horsebacks can be seen in every nook and cranny of communities. Admittedly, the police have not had it all right all the time. There have been a few shortcomings in the execution of their work. And these need addressing.

While we congratulate the IGP on the eve of his third anniversary in the role, we wish to remind him and the entire police service of their responsibility to the nation: to maintain peace and order through conscious actions that breed national unity and promote development.