[ 2012-07-14 ]

Police will 'deal with machomen at polling stations'-DCOP Bedie
Ho, July 13, GNA - The police will deal with
“machomen” who claim to be providing protection to
politicians at polling stations in the December
polls.

This is because their activities are illegal and
will not be allowed to intimidate electorates on
Election Day, Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCOP)
Alex Bedie, Volta Regional Police Commander said
on Friday.

He was addressing a two-day capacity building
workshop for staff of the Ghana News Agency for
Election 2012 monitoring and coverage.

The workshop, under the auspices of STAR-Ghana, a
multi donor funding mechanism, is on the theme,
“Upgrading GNA's Human Capital for In-depth
Coverage and Beyond” in Ho.

Mr Bedie said the police were prepared to provide
protection and ensure the safety of everyone at
polling stations and urged politicians to refrain
from engaging “machomen”.

Mr Bedie said the police had learnt lessons from
past elections and were not leaving anything to
chance in the December polls.

“We are going to be on top of all issues and we
expect everyone to abide by the rules and
regulations for a peaceful election,” he said.

Mr Bedie said should everyone go by the rules, the
police might not be needed everywhere on the
Election Day.

He urged media practitioners to cooperate with the
police and electoral officers at polling stations
for mutual benefit.

Mr Bedie said the police would organise workshops
and orientations to its personnel on the media to
enhance police media relations.

Madam Laurentia Kpatakpa, Volta Regional Director
of the Electoral Commission (EC), said the
Commission expected the media to be circumspect,
factual, objective and impartial to enhance the
credibility of the December Polls.

She advised media practitioners to desist from
generalisation of issues and be conversant with
electoral procedures and terms.

Mr Henry Ford Kamel, Volta Regional Minister,
commended media practitioners in the Region for
the mature manner in which they managed
information on the misunderstanding at Hohoe and
expressed the hope that the December Elections
would be handled in like manner.

He urged the media to “sieve” comments by
politicians which could plunge the country into
turmoil.

“Use your professional judgement to sieve
information by politicians to ensure peace. It is
not everything we say that is good for public
consumption,” Mr Kamel said.

Mr Mawusi Afele, Acting General Manger of the
Ghana News Agency, said though the responsibility
on the Agency was huge, it would not let the
country down.

Mr Charles Mawusi, Technical Adviser, Media and
Communication of STAR-Ghana, said the organisation
was supporting GNA due to its credibility.

STAR-Ghana is a multi- donor pooled funding
mechanism (funded by DFID, DANIDA, EU and USAID)
to increase the influence of civil society and
Parliament in the governance of public goods and
service delivery, with the ultimate goal of
improving the accountability and responsiveness of
Ghana's government, traditional authorities and
the private sector.

Source - GNA

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