PARTIES WARNED * Stick to schedules to avoid violence

Front Page: Wednesday, September 24, 2008.
Story: Albert K. Salia
THE Inspector-General of Police (IGP), Mr Patrick Kwarteng Acheampong, has attributed cases involving political conflict in some parts of the country to the wayward behaviour of some political event organisers.
He has, therefore, challenged political parties and their leaders to stick to their schedule of programmes to avoid the recurring violence in the ongoing electioneering.
The IGP also appealed to the followers of political parties, particularly the youth among them, to learn to comport themselves during political events.
Mr Acheampong, who, together with the Director-General of Police Operations, DCOP Patrick Timbillah, and other officers, spoke to the Daily Graphic yesterday, said any time organisers of political events went against their scheduled programmes, it often resulted in conflicts.
The IGP and his officers from the Ghana Police Service were commenting on the recurring political violence between supporters of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) and the National Democratic Congress (NDC).
Mr Acheampong said because the police were often not informed of those events which brought about the conflicts, it often created challenges for security personnel.
He said if the youth comported themselves in their interactions, there would always be peace.
He explained that the leadership of the various political parties interacted frequently without any problems, but anytime their followers were involved, there was trouble.
Mr Acheampong said what was surprising was that prior to the electioneering, the youth interacted at both formal and informal levels without conflicts.
For his part, DCOP Timbillah urged political parties to abide by the code of conduct they had all agreed upon to sanitise the electioneering, adding that if they did not abide by their own code of conduct, it would be difficult for the police to compel them to live by it.
Throwing more light on the Public Order Act, Ac 491, Superintendent Zakaria Dudimah said the police could only advise that political parties should not hold semi-events after their main fora for which permission had been granted by the law.
He explained that the law did not indicate the specific time for the close of special events and that the only occasions when the police could refuse the holding of special events at certain places were when the areas had been identified as flash points.
Supt Dudimah said if organisers or patrons of special events went outside the purview of their programmes, the law would deal with them as it would to other citizens.
He said the framers of the law could not have foreseen such violence, saying that explained why the law was silent on rallies held in the night.
Supt Dudimah said politicians must, however, look beyond the law and act in good faith and organise their activities between 6.00 a.m. and 6.00 p.m.
The Director of Police Public Affairs, DSP Kwesi Ofori, said the abrupt holding of mini rallies on the way to scheduled places must be reconsidered by the political parties.
He said it made it difficult for the police to be in firm control of events in terms of protecting the leaders and the followers of political parties, as well as ward off any untoward event.
“These dotted spots on the way to planned destinations should be looked at carefully,” he added.