First cohort of specialised training for security agencies ends

The Kofi Annan International Peacekeeping Training Centre (KAIPTC) has completed the first cohort of the specialised training course for security personnel on Election Violence and Security ahead of this year's presidential and parliamentary elections.

The course is aimed at enhancing the capacity of the security services and law enforcement agencies in preventing and managing potential electoral violence before, during and after the December polls.

The first cohort of the two-week course organised by the centre in collaboration with the German government commenced at the KAIPIC in Accra on Monday and ended last Friday. The second cohort will commence from October 21to October 25 this year at the centre.

The two cohorts will cumulatively see 82 security personnel (41 personnel per cohort) from the Ghana Police Service, Ghana Armed Forces, Ghana National Fire Service, Customs, National Intelligence Bureau, Ghana Immigration Service and Ghana Prisons Service trained on Election Violence and Security.

It formed part of a series of similar courses to be held in Accra, Kumasi and Tamale designed to equip officers with the skills in handling electoral security across the country. 

Rationale

The Director of Training, Colonel Anorph Barnabas Akanbong, in a speech read on behalf of the Commandant of KAIPTC, Major General Addo-Gyane, at the opening ceremony for the first cohort, underscored the role played by security services in ensuring a violence-free election.

“The mandate to preserve the peace rests on us security officers”, he said; adding that tension often accompanied elections in democracies, making the training critical as it aimed to enhance the ability of law enforcement agencies to manage electoral violence to ensure a peaceful election.

Maj. Gen. Addo-Gyane urged participants to apply the knowledge from the course to guide their conduct to ensure the election period was peaceful.

He also expressed gratitude to the German government for its support in making the course a reality and ultimately contributing to ensure a peaceful election. 

Collaboration

For her part, the Course Director, Assistant Commissioner of Police (ACP) Evelyn Edem Agbitor, said it was paramount for the security agencies to work together although the Ghana Police Service was central to electoral security.

ACP Agbitor stated that security agencies would intensify efforts to prevent any potential disruptions, ensuring that the country’s reputation as a beacon of democracy on the continent was maintained before, during and after the 2024 elections.

She said similar training programmes held in the past had been useful as the security agencies were better equipped to prevent electoral offences.

“We all want a violence-free election, so let's all come onboard and support the security services to ensure a peaceful election so that at the end, the glory will be for all Ghanaians and not the security services alone,” she said.

The Course Director also called on Ghanaians to be partners with the security by abiding by the laws and regulations set by various security agencies during the elections to ensure that there was a peaceful election.

For his part, the German Course Director, Norbert Wienold, who officially opened the first cohort of the course, urged the security services to make the course count in ensuring a peaceful election.