Police dialogue with physically challenged towards Election 2016

Physically challenged persons have made some requests to the police towards ensuring their security on voting day.

They have also asked that, as much as possible, information that will guarantee their safety must be communicated on time so that they share it among themselves. 

These and other requests were made by the President of the Ghana Federation of Disability Organisations (GFDO), Mr Yaw Ofori-Debrah, and other executive members when the group met with the Police Administration as part of the Inspector General of Police’s (IGP) dialogue series last Friday.

The dialogue series was initiated by the police administration to build consensus among Ghanaians to make the 2016 polls successful. 

Opening the meeting, the Director-General of Research and Planning of the Ghana Police Service, COP Rose Bio Atinga, reiterated that a major approach that the National Elections Security Task Force (NESTF) had adopted for Election 2016 was dialogue.

Police prepared

She said the Police Administration had sensitised all its officers to provide physically challenged persons the needed support at all polling stations on voting day and announced that  flyers on courtesies to be accorded them would soon come out.

COP Bio Atinga said, however, that much as the police might have done a lot, they might probably not have captured all the concerns of the physically challenged persons hence the reason for the meeting.

She impressed on other members of the public to show consideration when police officers accorded priority treatment to such at polling stations on voting day.

Submissions

In his submission, Mr Ofori-Debrah said the physically challenged went to polling stations in the company of others to assist them to vote and urged the police to help avoid any misunderstanding that might be associated with the practice.

He also asked the police administration to furnish the organisation with early signals on hotspots to enable it inform its members since most had challenges with mobility. 

Mr Alexander Bankole-Williams of the Ghana Blind Union asked the police to ensure that the proposed flyers were appropriate for members.

The National Vice-President of the Mental Health Society of Ghana, Ms Martha Coffie, pleaded with the police to help persons living with psycho-social disabilities to exercise their right to vote as most often they were tagged as unfit to exercise that right.

A member of ShareCare, a non-governmental organisation, Ms Malwine Amoako, who has a child suffering from cerebral palsy, urged the police to look out for mothers with such children and help them to vote early to enable them to take their children who could not stand large crowds and long waiting periods home.

The Director of the Ghana Association of Persons with Albinism, Mr Newton Katseku, in his submission mentioned some of the challenges of albinos as sight and skin problems. 

He said some might need to protect themselves from the sun and asked the police to be on hand in case of any difficulty.

Mr Joseph Allotey of Inclusive Ghana, a non-governmental organisation working with persons with intellectual disability asked that the needed information on voting must be simplified for the group.

Assurance

The Director-General of Operations of the GPS, COP Christian Yohunu, described the engagement as “one of the best meetings with stakeholders”.

He said he had learnt a lot and promised that all the concerns raised would be factored into the operations of the police on  election day.