Ashanti Police Ready For December Elections, Xmas – Ash. Reg. SWAT Operational Commander
Ashanti Regional SWAT Operational Commander, Chief Superintendent George Ankomah, has assured the public that the Police together with the other security agencies are ready to provide adequate security before, during and after the elections in December 7.
He said police personnel in Ashanti have taken advantage of a special police training programme at Hunhunya in the Eastern Region to sharpen their skill and preparedness especially, in emergency situations.
According to him, every polling station in the Region will have a security officer positioned there to provide security for the political party and EC officials.
“The safety of the political parties and EC officials at the polling stations as well as the voter and also the ballot boxes is a matter of concern to the Police and will do all we can to protect them.” He said.
In an exclusive interview on Wontumi Radio and TV on Wednesday, Chief Superintendent Ankomah who was speaking in an exclusive interview on WontumiTV and Radio said that, besides the original plan by the police to be visible at the polling stations a patrol team will be placed on stand-by to assist in responding to emergencies.
The SWAT Commander who looked at the general security situation in the Region said that the rate of armed robhbery as compared to last year has gone down marginally.
“Last year by this time the Police had recorded a total of 230 armed robbery cases while we have 166 cases so far this year. So one can conclude that the security situation isn’t that bad and all residents should feel safe in going about their normal activities.” He noted.
According to Chief Supt Ankoma, the level of preparedness of the Police for the election and beyond particularly in the Christmas period is adequate and that given the closeness of the two activities the public will be a witness to their readiness to deal with all cases of security breaches.. He told Oheneba Nana Asiedu, host of the programme.
He announced the two toll free lines that can be called when there is an emergency to alert the police in all situations. They are :112/1855