Police Commander assures political parties of police neutrality

Mr Bernard Dery, Volta Regional Police Commander on Friday assured political parties operating in the region of the neutrality and preparedness of the police to handle all election related issues.      He said the police would give all political parties a level playing ground "without let or hindrance".      Speaking at a press conference in Ho, Mr Dery said 19 Election Task Forces had been formed in the region to maintain peace, law and order before, during and after the elections.      He said the region had about 1,199 polling stations, 15 collating centres and 300 flash points.      Mr Dery said the Inspector-General of Police had undertaken to beef up the 1,300 police personnel number in the region with an additional 300 to meet the exigencies of the election period.      The Police Commander said other security agencies were expected to provide some additional reinforcement to the police strength.      He appealed to all political parties to go by the rules of the game and avoid provocative utterances, insulting behaviour and personality attack.      "Politics should not divide us, Ghana is for Ghanaians and our destiny is in our hands," he said.      Mr Dery appealed to the general public to assist the police in maintaining the peace and expose those who would want to bring anarchy and chaos to the country.      He said: "Enemies of peace, law and order must be avoided," and     appealed to Ghanaians, especially the youth to refrain from acts that would endanger their lives.      He advised people who went about defacing posters of their opponents to refrain from such "unpatriotic act as the law will deal with them drastically if caught". GNA