'POLITICIANS MUST GUARD AGAINST BREACH OF PEACE' (PAGE 17)

Story: Samuel Duodu, Sunyani

THE Brong Ahafo Regional Police Commander, Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCOP) James Oppong-Boanuh, has appealed to political parties and their supporters to conduct their campaigns within the confines of the legal and constitutional framework of the country.
He said they must guard against a breach of the peace in the region before, during and after the 2008 general election.
DCOP Oppong-Boanuh, who also drew the attention of political parties and their supporters to the Public Order Act (Act 419), the Public Elections Registration of Voters Regulations, 1995 (CI 12) and the Public Elections Regulations, 1996 (CI 15), cautioned that the Regional Police Command would apply the electoral laws to the letter.
He, however, gave the assurance that the police would be fair and firm to everybody in the discharge of their duties to ensure that law and order prevailed in the region.
DCOP Oppong-Boanuh made the appeal at his maiden meeting with the chairmen of political parties in the Brong Ahafo Region at the Regional Police Headquarters in Sunyani.
The meeting was attended by Mr Peter Amoh for the Democratic Freedom Party (DFP); Mr Bright Kwame Ameyaw for the Convention People’s Party (CPP); Mr John Owusu Agyemang for the National Democratic Congress (NDC); Mr Amanfo Antwi for the Democratic People’s Party (DPP); Mr Collins Kyere for the People’s National Convention (PNC) and Mr Eric Adom Marfo for the New Patriotic Party (NPP).
DCOP Oppong-Boanuh urged Ghanaians to learn from the experiences of neighbouring countries and endeavour to resolve all their political differences with dialogue, compromise, as well as the legal and constitutional structures, to ensure that the country continue to enjoy peace before, during and after the elections.
In a release signed by Chief Inspector Yaw Nketia-Yeboah, the Regional Police Public Affairs Officer, and issued to the press in Sunyani, the Regional Police Commander stated that the Community Protection Unit (CPU) was under the command and control of the Ghana Police Service.
DCOP Oppong-Boanuh, therefore, appealed to all to co-operate with the personnel of the unit in the performance of their duties.
The Regional Police Commander noted that the activities of members of the CPU in the region had been prescribed by him and, therefore, he expected them to be encouraged and respected by all.
He appealed to the gathering and the public to disabuse their minds of the fear that the CPU was there because of the upcoming general election instead of crowd and traffic control duties.
Present at the meeting were the Deputy Brong Ahafo Regional Police Commander, Assistant Commissioner of Police (ACP) Charles K. Tokor; the Regional Crime Officer, Mr Kwame Barima-Acheampong, and the Staff Officer to the Regional Police Commander, Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP) Paul Wesley Baah.